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Zakai Zeigler after playing 39 minutes, leading Tennessee to win over NC State: 'I'm back'

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey12/17/23GrantRamey
Zakai Zeigler
(Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports) Dec 16, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Tennessee Volunteers guard Zakai Zeigler (5) dribbles the ball in the second half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at the Frost Bank Center.

The minutes slowly increased for Zakai Zeigler as the season progressed. Coming off the torn ACL that ended his sophomore season back in February, Zeigler played 12 minutes against Tennessee Tech in the season opener. Then 19 at Wisconsin and 19 more against Wofford.

He passed the 20-minute plateau with 21 against Syracuse on November 20, played 28 the next day against Purdue and 20 more against Kansas as Tennessee played three games in three days in the Maui Invitational. 

He averaged 28.2 minutes over four games against North Carolina, George Mason, Illinois and Georgia Southern.

Then Saturday night’s game against North Carolina State tipped off at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. And with it, any remnants of a minutes restriction was long gone. 

Zakai Zeigler: ‘That’s all I can really say. I’m back’

Zeigler played 39 of the game’s 40 minutes and stuffed his stat line. He scored 20 points on 7-for-17 shooting from the field, including a season-best 4-for-8 from the 3-point line. He had a season-high eight assists, matched a season high with four steals and added three rebounds, just for good measure. 

“I’m back,” Zeigler said after leading No. 12 Tennessee to the 79-70 win over NC State in the Hall of Fame Series game. “That’s all I can really say. I’m back”

Zeigler, who had set a previous season high with 11 points in the win over Illinois last week, had 11 points by halftime Saturday night. He hit a 3-pointer to start the scoring and had eight of Tennessee’s first 16 points in the opening 10 minutes.

“I felt like just getting confident and getting downhill,” Zeigler said when asked what was working against the Wolfpack. “It was opening up the court, not only for me, but for my teammates.

“And we were able to get whatever we want when we would just play with pace, get downhill and not let the defense beat us up.”

Up Next: No. 12 Tennessee vs. Tarleton State, Thursday, 6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+

Zeigler’s nine points in the second half included the dagger three with 2:16 left, putting Tennessee up 75-67. He hit two free throws in the final 73 seconds, scored on a driving layup at the 14:16 mark to get the lead back to four and hit a stepback jumper with 12:13 left to make it an 11-point lead, the biggest of the game for the Vols until the final minute.

“He really, in some ways, dominated the tempo and flow of the game in terms of what he did,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “The four steals were big in terms of disrupting them. You look at his line, it’s a great line, and you look at the fact that he got his players involved.”

Barnes couldn’t say after the game if Zeigler is truly 100% physically healthy yet. But he’s 100% where it matters most.

“I don’t know if I’d say that but he’s close,” Barnes said. “He knows he’s close. But mentally, he’s definitely 100% back.” 

On Saturday night, it showed for 39 straight minutes.

“He knew what he needed to do,” Barnes said. “… He was terrific, playing the most minutes he has all year.”