Rodney Terry doesn't know Zakai Zeigler's name, but he knows what he means to Tennessee
CHARLOTTE — Texas coach Rodney Terry apparently didn’t know his name. He just knew how much of a difference he had made over the previous two hours Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Zakai Zeigler finished with six points on just 2-for-12 shooting, but he had seven assists, four rebounds and three steals. Tennessee’s junior point guard never came off the floor at the Spectrum Center, playing all 40 minutes while helping the second-seeded Vols move past No. 7 Texas in a 62-58 win in the Midwest Region.
“The head of the snake is the little dude,” Terry said during his postgame press conference after the season-ending loss. “The little dude causes a lot of problems out there. He’s all over the place defensively. He’s Defensive Player of the Year in the SEC.
Zakai Zeigler had 34 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds over previous two games vs. Texas
“He’s causing all kind of havoc on that end of the floor. Then you throw in that he can get into the teeth of the defense and get something for himself or create for a teammate.”
It wasn’t the first look Texas had at Zeigler. Far from it. A year ago he scored 22 points and had 10 assists, three rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes during Tennessee’s 82-71 win over the Longhorns at Thompson-Boling Arena in a Big 12-SEC Challenge game.
Two years ago in Austin, a then-freshman Zeigler had 12 points and three rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench in a 52-51 loss to the Longhorns.
On Saturday night, as Tennessee punched its ticket to the Sweet Sixteen for a second straight season, the Vols shot just 33.8% from the floor and went 3-for-25 from the 3-point line, an unthinkable 12.0%.
Up Next: Tennessee in the Sweet 16 vs. No. 3 Creighton, Friday
Dalton Knecht led Tennessee (26-8) with 18 points and nine rebounds. He shot 5-for-18 from the field and went 1-for-8 at the 3-point line. Zeigler matched with his own 1-for-8 mark from three.
Terry called Kencht “a big-time player” who has “had a special year.” Then he got back to talking about “the little guy.”
“(Knecht) probably didn’t have that special year if it weren’t for the little guy,” Terry said, “who can get into the teeth of the defense and create scoring opportunities for him. He’s the head of the snake. He’s a really terrific player and one that we had a lot of respect for.”
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