Rick Barnes: Zakai Zeigler turned back into ‘the guy that we’ve always known’

Rick Barnes was proud of the way Zakai Zeigler answered the call in the second half of Tennessee’s comeback win over Vanderbilt.

Nothing was going right at the Vols, at one point, trailed by 16. Still, they came back and won 81-76 on the back of Zeigler’s 22 points and Chaz Lanier putting up 21.
Barnes knew it was coming after a halftime locker room speech.

“I thought he got back and played with a real chip on his shoulder,” Barnes said postgame. “That’s what I thought. I thought he got back and his competitive spirit really showed up. That’s what I thought. You know, because of the first half, he was getting driven by, the things that he doesn’t normally do, and I thought that was it.

“The guy that we’ve always known, that’s who he was in the second half … People game plan for him, but he was just determined, he’s strong with the ball. Got mad at me, probably because I said some things to him I don’t normally say, but to challenge him a little bit, and I thought he responded well.” 

Tennessee outscored Vanderbilt 50-32 in the final 20 minutes to improve to 21-5 on the season. A huge game for Zeigler, but it was typical of the Volunteers’ star.

“I said, who’s getting respect right now? Who’s getting disrespected? I said, Come on, man, you can’t, the things he was allowing to happen out there that he wasn’t doing,” Barnes said. “And again, I have such a high standard for him, and he’s probably got an even higher one for himself. And I thought the minutes he sat there, I think he’s best when he plays angry and with a chip, that’s when he’s at his best, because he’s always been a fighter his whole life. 

“I’ve said it to you guys. Many times when guys get comfortable and thinking at every game is going to be the same, because it’s not. And I like it when he got that look on his face.”

Zeigler basically echoed his coach’s comments following the game.

“Oh, we had some mistakes early on in the game,” Zeigler said on SEC Network postgame. “And you know, the way we started the game, we can’t do that, especially myself, being one of the leaders on the team. Going into the locker room, coach Barnes said some things. You know, I feel like that lit a fire under us. Coming out in the second half, we knew we had to come out with a different type of energy.”