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Tennessee Basketball lists Zakai Zeigler, Igor Milicic on Friday injury report for Florida game

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•about 9 hours•

GrantRamey

Zakai Zeigler
USA TODAY IMAGES/Matt Pendelton

Tennessee Basketball on Friday night listed senior point guard Zakai Zeigler (knee) as questionable on the SEC injury report for Saturday’s game between the eighth-ranked Vols and No. 5 Florida at Food City Center. Zeigler was dressed but not active during practice Friday afternoon, after missing practice on Thursday.

Senior forward Igor Milicic (illness) was listed as probable on the report after missing practice Friday. He had a game-high 19 points in the 78-73 loss against No. 12 Kentucky on Tuesday, going 4-for-8 from the 3-point line.

Zeigler had an injury scare with his right knee late in the first half against Kentucky. He was driving to the rim when his right knee appeared to buckle awkwardly with 2:17 left before halftime.

He jumped up under his own powered and jogged toward the Tennessee bench, going straight to the locker room to be examined by trainers. He returned after halftime and played all 20 minutes in the second half.

The SEC injury report will be updated again Saturday morning, roughly two hours before Tennessee (17-4, 4-4 SEC) and Florida (18-2, 5-2) tipoff at Noon Eastern Time on ESPN.

‘Not one bit’: Rick Barnes not concerned with Zakai Zeigler missing practice time

Head coach Rick Barnes said Friday afternoon that he expected Zeigler to be available for Saturday against Florida.

“He did not practice yesterday,” Barnes said before Friday’s practice. “I just walked in the building and haven’t heard where he’s at. My gut feel is, knowing him, that he’ll be ready to play.”

Barnes was also asked if there was any concern for Zeigler’s injury after he did not practice Thursday.

“No,” Barnes said. “Not at all. Not one bit.”

Barnes said during his postgame press conference on Tuesday that Zeigler checking himself out and immediately going to the locker room worried him “because he would never do what he did, going straight back.”

Barnes added that he didn’t see any change in the way Zeigler played in the second half after suffering the injury and that he wouldn’t have played if he had not been cleared medically.

Zeigler finished with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds in a team-high 35 minutes against Kentucky.

“He tweaked his knee a little bit,” Barnes said of the injury. “… It’s sound or he wouldn’t have played. He said it was all sound.” 

Zakai Zeigler suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in February 2023

Zeigler entered Tuesday night’s game averaging 12.3 points, 7.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 34.3 minutes per game, all career-best numbers. He had 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals in Tennessee’s 53-51 loss at No. 1 Auburn Saturday night. 

After tearing his ACL in his left knee in February 2023, Zeigler returned to average 31.6 minutes per game, starting 30 times in 36 games during the 2023-24 season. 

Barnes on Tuesday described the injury scare against Kentucky as “a sprain or something like that.”

“Stability wise,” Barnes said, “they checked out while he was back there and it was all fine.”

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