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Kentucky players react to Zakai Zeigler flipping off Kentucky logo: 'It's cute'

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby:Grant Grubbs•03/27/25•

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Kentucky's Lamont Butler, Amari Williams, Otega Oweh, Koby Brea, and Ansley Almonor - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio
Kentucky's Lamont Butler, Amari Williams, Otega Oweh, Koby Brea, and Ansley Almonor - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

Tennessee played its first two games in the NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena. After the Volunteers defeated UCLA on Saturday to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, Nashville photographer Erin Powers posted a photo on Instagram of Tennessee star Zakai Zeigler flipping off a UK logo in the historic arena.

Zeigler won’t have to wait long to back up his trash talk. On Friday, Tennessee and Kentucky will square off in the Sweet 16. It’ll be the third time the two teams have met this season, with Kentucky currently boasting a 2-0 record. On Thursday, Kentucky’s players commented on the viral photo of Zeigler.

“I have seen it,” Lamont Butler told the press. “Just gives us a little bit more motivation. We’re just trying to go out there and have fun. We’re not really too worried about it. We’re just going to go out there to play.”

“It’s cute when you got a team like that that haven’t beat us in how long? You know, you’re gonna be mad about that,” Kentucky center Amari Williams said. “But we don’t really care about that. They can do whatever but we’ll be ready on the court.”

“We did see the picture,” Wildcats freshman Collin Chandler said. “No comment. But yeah, we saw it. We’re ready.”

Kentucky defeated Tennessee 78-73 in the two teams’ first matchup this season on Jan. 28. In the loss, Zeigler couldn’t find a shooting rhythm. He scored just 13 points while shooting 5-18 from the field and 1-11 from beyond the arc.

Zeigler played better in Tennessee’s rematch against Kentucky on Feb. 11, but the Volunteers still fell 75-64. In the loss, the All-SEC First-Team guard tallied team-highs of 17 points and six assists on 7-11 shooting.

Now, Tennessee will need Zeigler to have another excellent performance if it hopes to exact revenge against the Wildcats. It won’t be easy. In Kentucky’s two wins over the Volunteers this season, forward Andrew Carr was limited due to a lingering back issue.

Carr is playing his best ball of the season. The 6-foot-10 forward has scored double figures in four of Kentucky’s last five games and will be instrumental in slowing down Tennessee’s Igor Milicic Jr. On Thursday, Carr previewed the impending matchup.

“I feel like for us to continue being able to come out on top, we’ve got to just continue to contest every shot and make every shot tough. And that’s what we’re able to do the first two match-ups,” Carr said. “That’s what we’re going to be looking to do again on Friday.”

Kentucky and Tennessee will clash at 7:39 p.m. ET on Friday. The game will air on TBS.