Zakai Zeigler injury sends Tennessee point guard to the locker room

Tennessee starting point guard Zakai Zeigler went down in a heap on the floor after appearing to injure his left knee on a play just under the basket in the opening moments of a game against Arkansas.

Zeigler was dribbling the baseline and attempted to leap to avoid going out of bounds as he got a pass off. But as his left foot came down, Zeigler crumbled awkwardly to the floor.

He was immediately tended to by team trainers and was in a good deal of pain, pounding the floor with his hand and crying out.

Zeigler was helped off the floor and into the locker room by team trainers, putting no weight on his left leg.

Prior to the Zakai Zeigler injury, the starting point guard had been having a terrific year for the Volunteers running the point. He had averaged 11.0 points, 5.5 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game this season.

If he’s absent for any extended period it will force Tennessee to adjust quite a bit.

All eyes on Zakai Zeigler injury

The ESPN2 broadcast crew hoped to be able to provide an update on the Zakai Zeigler injury should the Tennessee sports information team make one available, but the only update provided at this point is that Zeigler is out for the night with a left knee injury.

The Volunteers led 13-10 with 9:51 remaining in the first half at the time of this writing.

Tennessee is one of the SEC teams that has firmly locked up a spot in the NCAA Tournament as of this juncture, with Joe Lunardi‘s latest bracketology listing the Volunteers as a three-seed in the East Region.

Of course, the outlook for the team looks considerably bleaker if Zeigler can’t go due to injury.

The Volunteers will have to rely more on the likes of Josiah-Jordan James, Santiago Vescovi and Jahmai Mashack in the backcourt.