Rick Barnes still believe BJ Edwards can help Vols at point guard without Zakai Zeigler

Zakai Zeigler was out for No. 12 Tennessee on Tuesday before the game was three minutes old. With 17:06 left in the first half, the sophomore point guard drove baseline, passed to Santiago Vescovi in the corner, then collapsed on the court.

His left knee buckled and he had to be carried off the court, with an MRI on Wednesday confirming what seemed obvious. He was done for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.

The Vols didn’t miss a beat without him, though, leading wire-to-wire in a 75-57 win over the Razorbacks at Thompson-Boling Arena. The advantage in the first half was as much as 10 and ballooned to 24 with just over three minutes left in the second half.

Vescovi took over the majority of the ball-handling duties in Zeigler’s place, with Josiah-Jordan James and Jahmai Mashack also manning the point guard spot at times in the win. 

BJ Edwards has made 13 appearances this season, averaging 4.5 minutes per game

Freshman point guard BJ Edwards never got off the bench, but head coach Rick Barnes said before practice on Thursday that he still believes in Edwards as an option to help fill the void at point guard.

“I think BJ has done a good job for us,” Barnes said. “He’s one of the guys we really do have confidence in. As it gets later in the year, obviously as you guys know, the possessions become very valuable. 

“But he’s handled himself well and we have confidence in him. Again, we know that we’ve got him and he’ll do his job in terms of getting ready. He’ll prepare the right way.”

Now Tennessee (22-8, 11-6 SEC), still adjusting without Zeigler, has to go on the road to Auburn (19-11, 9-8) for Saturday’s 2 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: ESPN) in the regular-season finale at Neville Arena.

Edwards has played only sporadically this season, appearing in 13 games for either mop-up duty or to help relieve Zeigler from foul trouble. He’s played a total of 58 minutes, averaging 4.5 per game, totaling 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five turnovers so far this season.

Barnes clarified, saying he didn’t expect Edwards to completely fill in for Zeigler, who averaged 28.7 minutes per game while tied for second on the team in scoring, at 10.7 per game, to go with 5.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds.

“That’s a lot of minutes,” Barnes said. “I’m saying he’s a guy that we know we’re not afraid to put out there.”

Edwards appeared in seven games during the non-conference schedule and has appeared in just six over the last two months. He played a season-high 10 minutes in the 85-45 win over South Carolina on Saturday. 

The 6-foot-3, 188-pound Edwards is a former four-star prospect out of Knoxville’s Catholic High School. He was the No. 91 overall player in the 2022 recruiting class and was ranked No. 12 among point guards and No. 3 overall in the state of Tennessee. 

Up Next: No. 12 Tennessee at Auburn, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN

Edwards’ first year with the Vols, Barnes explained on Thursday, has been a crash course in everything it takes to play the game at the collegiate level. 

“The first thing that all these guys have to learn to do is how to practice the right way everyday,” Barnes said. “What goes into playing at this level, there’s a lot that we ask from our guys. He’s been great at that, he’s been a great teammate and I think he’s learned a great deal.”

And the best experience in practice — all summer, through the fall and for the past four months of the college basketball season — has been practicing against Zeigler and Vescovi and attempting to defend the All-SEC guards. 

“Through all that I think he’s kept his head up and continued to learn,” Barnes said. “He’s been really coachable. He knows like all of us, we’ve all got to get better.” 

Barnes believes if called upon, he’ll help make Tennessee better as the Vols attempt to adjust without Zeigler.

“The one thing I like about him,” Barnes said, “as coaches we’d all agree that I don’t think he’s been overwhelmed by going into the games. We don’t really think too many things affect him. All of that put together is why we’ve got confidence in him.”