Zakai Zeigler is 'right there with the very best point guards in the country'
The 22 points and 10 assists Zakai Zeigler finished with in No. 4 Tennessee’s 82-71 win over No. 10 Texas on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena was more than just the third double-double of the season for the sophomore point guard.
It was his second double-double over his last three games, after he had 12 points and 10 assists in the win at LSU last Saturday. And it was his third this month, after going for 11 points and 10 assists in the win over Mississippi State on January 3.
“What can you say about him?” Head coach Rick Barnes asked after the game. “I mean, he’s got to be right there with the very best point guards in the country when you think about what he does night in and night out, consistently doing it.”
Over his last four games alone, Zeigler has 69 points, 31 assists and 13 rebounds in 34.3 minutes per game. He’s shooting 52.2 percent from the field, going 23-for-44, and 38.7 percent from the 3-point line, going 12-for-31.
Maybe more impressive than the numbers is the fact that Barnes still says Zeigler is “learning the position as he goes,” still adjusting to being a true point guard, looking to pass and facilitate first, and score second, as the offense’s trigger man.
Zakai Zeigler leads SEC is assists, second in steals
Zeigler is now the SEC assist leader, with 108 on the season. In January alone, he had 68 assists. His defense is just as tough, with 48 steals on the season, second in the SEC and only two behind Missouri guard D’Moi Hodge.
Over eight games in January, Zeigler averaged 12.0 points, 8.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals.
“What he’s learning how to do,” Barnes said, “is make his teammates better, which is the sign of a point guard — Zakai becoming a point guard — understanding that’s his job. Find a way to make his teammates better on the offensive end. I think as he continues to do that, he’s going to make everybody better. And by doing that, we get better.”
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The 82 points scored against Texas Saturday was the highest total since Tennessee had 81 against Florida Gulf Coast in November. It was only the seventh time in 21 games the Vols have scored 80 or more.
Zeigler accounted for 45 of the 82, either through scoring (22) on his own or through his assists (23).
“I would just say it was a good feel for the game,” Zeigler said of his increased production, “and knowing just to take my open shots and hit the open guy. It was just a feel for the game.”
Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee at Florida, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
Zeigler had a turnover with 3:24 left in the first half, leading to a layup for Sir’Jabari Rice, with Texas cutting the Tennessee lead down to seven.
Zeigler responded by scoring eight straight points, building the lead to 14, the biggest of the game at that point, with 1:48 left in the first half.
“I always have the next play mentality,” Zeigler said. “In that case, I knew it was a pretty bad turnover, but I was just thinking ahead. It’s going to be a game of runs and it’s going to be some ups and downs, so just keep playing and be myself and don’t dwell on that one turnover.”
As long as Zeigler is making that next play, Tennessee’s offense will be at its best.
“I feel like that wasn’t even our best offensive performance,” Zeigler said. “We can do much better. We can play much faster. We can get the ball inside even more … I would say we can be even better offensively.”
