It was surprising, remarkable, actually amazing – and maybe some other exciting words.

Tennessee shot 27.3 percent in the first half and trailed Georgia by a point at intermission. Tennessee shot 57.6 percent in the second half and won in a romp, 74-56.

A struggle turned into showtime at Food City Center. Jahmai Mashack flipped the switch with five quick points. Felix Okpara slammed in a rebound. Igor Milicic hit a pair of free throws.

Zakai Zeigler seized the spotlight. He took over center stage. He picked off a Georgia pass and fed Jordan Gainey a layup. The crowd got loud. Fireworks followed. Ziggy bombed the Bulldogs with three threes.

Wide angle during the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers at Food City Center in Knoxville. (Photo by Andrew Ferguson/ Tennessee Athletics)

The explosion was truly spectacular, 26-4. Tennessee was suddenly on top, 51-30.

Ziggy finished with 16 points and seven assists. He had six steals and broke the school career record previously owned by Santiago Vescovi. He had two rebounds and even blocked a shot.

Gainey had a special game, 19 points and seven rebounds. Milicic contributed nine points and nine rebounds. Mashack hit his five shots, good for 11 points. Cade Phillips added zest, 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Felix Okpara fought off the big Bulldogs, blocked three shots and claimed seven rebounds.

It was a night to remember.

Tennessee is 16-1 and 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference. The Vols play at Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon, beginning at 3:30 ET, SEC Network. The Commodores are 14-3 and 2-2.

OK, I am assigned to tell the truth and the whole truth. Chaz Lanier’s shooting slump continues. He missed his first eight shots. He finally got a goal just before halftime. He finished two for 16. He scored five points.

Lanier has found SEC defenses far more focused and physical than what he faced in non-conference games. Before mid-December, he was hitting 46 percent from long range and 45 from the overall field. He has not been the same since.

“Chaz had a tough night shooting it,” said Rick Barnes. “Some of that had to do with Georgia, too. Any time you’re struggling, you got to realize the opponents have something to do with it.”

Georgia gave most of the job of guarding Lanier to Blue Cain. He did it for much of the evening. Cain did not have a good offensive homecoming. He missed seven of nine shots.

There is some question whether it was Georgia’s determined defense or just poor Tennessee shooting that made the first half what it was. The Vols got one field goal in the first four minutes and 49 seconds. I recall when they were four-for-16. They went 4:35 between field goals. They trailed 26-25 at the rest stop.

“I thought both teams were really physical, trying to guard, trying to not give up anything easy,” said Barnes. And both teams missed shots that both have made at some point in time, but that’s part of it. And when it is games like that in the first half, I think it’s a difficult game to officiate, too. But I thought everyone was trying to get it done.”

The sizzling second half erased most of the bad memories.

Georgia had one little flurry with about 12 minutes to go – nine consecutive points to reduce the deficit to 12. Gainey stopped that trend. Gainey finished with a hot hand. He scored 14 in the second half.

Vol guards gave the Bulldogs a hard way to go. The visitors lost 19 turnovers.

Barnes: “The turnovers that we were able to get, we turn them into 19 points. That was big for us.”

The coach summed up the second half with a hint of a smile.

“We start making some shots, ‘Z’ got it going. I thought Jahmai was terrific. Cade was terrific. Igor continues to show some consistency. And I think it’s three really good games where Felix has made an impact, especially defensively.”

Barnes had more to say about Ziggy, little things, big things.

“His steal in the back court, all that … just really, truly being Zakai, trying to find a way to impact the game … six steals were huge. That’s huge. Just really being who he is.”

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com