'It's a great storyline': Both Tennessee and Saint Peter's wanted a matchup of the Zeigler brothers

CHARLOTTE — Bashir Mason explained the Saint Peter’s setup on Selection Sunday in Jersey City, N.J. His players filled two rows of seats and the second-year Peacock head coach sat in the back, watching along as the NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed live. 

He knew who his players wanted to face because they didn’t hide it.

“I don’t know why, because these guys are crazy, but I think this is the matchup they wanted,” Mason said during his press conference on Wednesday.

The matchup is Tennessee (24-8), the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, against No. 15 Saint Peter’s (19-13) on Thursday (9:20 p.m. Eastern Time, TNT) at the Spectrum Center. 

“When Tennessee popped up on the screen,” Mason said, “our entire team pulled their cell phones out and started recording. When we got called next, there was a celebration.”

The celebration wasn’t because of the Vols. It was because of Armoni Zeigler, the freshman guard for Saint Peter’s, getting to face his half brother, Tennessee junior point guard Zakai Zeigler. 

“That excitement for those two,” Mason said “has probably trickled through both locker rooms.”

‘(Armoni Zeigler) is like a little brother to all of us’

Tennessee assistant coach Rod Clark confirmed as much before the Vols left Knoxville on Tuesday. There was a similar scene playing out in the Tennessee locker room on Selection evening.

“It was funny,” Clark said, “because the guys, before the draw was happening, literally we’re talking about. ‘Man, what if we get Saint Peter’s? What if we get Saint Peter’s?’” 

It’s different level of familiarity between the Vols and their point guard’s little brother. Armoni was on Tennessee’s campus for Zakai’s official visit three years ago. He was in Knoxville over the summer, too. 

“Armoni comes down a lot, man,” Clark said. “‘Moni, I love ‘Moni. I actually watched him during the summer after Zakai was already here and you know, ‘Moni is like a little brother to all of us. So the fact that we’re going to see him is fun.”

But between the lines Thursday night, the fun has to stop.

“The fact that we’re going to see him is great and it feels like family,” Clark said, “but for those 40 minutes I’m going to hate Armoni. And I think everybody on our team will. But we love ‘Moni. It’s a great storyline.”

No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 15 Saint Peter’s, Thursday, 9:20 p.m. ET, TNT

Armoni is listed as a 6-foot-4, 195-pound native of Amityville, N.Y., on the Saint Peter’s roster. He’s averaging 6.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 19.0 minutes per game.  

Zakai was a late addition to Tennessee’s 2021 recruiting class. In three years he’s gone from a relatively unheard of three-star prospect to one of the program’s most important leaders.

He’s averaging career highs this season with 11.9 points, 5.8 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, while shooting 40.4% from the field and 35.2% from the 3-point line in a team-high 30.8 minutes per game.

He’s been a member of the SEC All-Defensive team three times and last week was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, just over a year removed from the torn ACL that ended his sophomore season. 

“Zakai got to this level because he’s ultimately competitive,” Mason said. “Armoni’s with us because he’s competitive. Although they’re brothers and they spend a lot of time with each other and they probably talk a lot, I think they’ll both be looking forward to competing against each other on this stage.”

Later Wednesday afternoon, when Saint Peter’s was finishing its shootaround at the Spectrum Center, Tennessee players came onto the floor with the Vols scheduled to start their session.

Zakai snuck up on Armoni and wrapped him in a hug, with Armoni turning around and returning the favor. After a moment, older brother shoved away his little brother.

“Obviously Zakai playing against his brother, I talked to a lot of Zakai’s family,” Clark said. “They’re all super excited, happy. It’s a beautiful moment for them because obviously they’re seeing their boys in a place where they didn’t really expect them to be years ago. So it is going to be a special moment. It’s going to be fun.”

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