No. 12 Tennessee overcomes loss of Zakai Zeigler to hammer Arkansas, 75-57

Zakai Zeigler laid crumpled on the floor, writhing in pain and clutching his left leg after going down with non-contact injury just three minutes into Tuesday night’s game against Arkansas. No. 12 Tennessee lost its sophomore point guard for the game but the Vols weren’t going to lose to the Razorbacks on Senior Night in Knoxville.

Santiago Vescovi stepped into the point guard role and scored 14 points and Olivier Nkamhoua added 16 points and seven rebounds to lead Tennessee to a 75-57 win over Arkansas in yet another shorthanded performance.

The Vols (22-8, 11-6 SEC) got 11 from Josiah-Jordan James and eight from Jonas Aidoo. Tobe Awaka had seven points and eight rebounds and Jahmai Mashack scored six points and had five assists. Julian Phillips scored seven points to go with five rebounds and three assists while making his return from a hip injury.

Arkansas (19-11, 8-9) got 12 points from Nick Smith Jr. and 13 from Anthony Black. Davonte Davis scored 11.

Tennessee never trailed and led for all but 65 seconds in the wire-to-wire win, outscoring Arkansas 42-16 in the paint. The lead was as big as 10 in the first half and reached 20 on a James free throw with 5:41 left.

The lead was 19 after two Phillips free throws with 6:29 left, after Vescovi took a couple steps back and hit a deep three over Smith. It was 24 with 3:30 to go, after Nkamhoua hit a jumper off the glass just ahead of the shot-clock horn.

Tennessee led by nine at halftime, 34-25, after leading for 18 minutes, 55 seconds in the first half. Nkamhoua had 10 points to lead the Vols in the first half awhile Vesocvi and Tobe Awaka scored six each. Aidoo had four points and 

Vescovi came up with a steal and then pulled up for a 3-pointer in transition with 2:29 left before halftime, building the lead to 10, the biggest advantage of the first half. 

Zakai Zeigler lost to left leg injury early in first half

Zeigler had two points and an assist in four minutes before suffering the injury. He opened the scoring at the 18:55 mark, driving for a layup, then threw a lob to Olivier Nkamhoua with 17:48 left in the first half. 

He went down at the 17:06 mark after a baseline drive. The arena fell silent after the non-contact injury, with Zeigler writhing in pain and clutching his left leg. He was later carried off with a trainer under each arm, putting no weight on the left leg.

Tennessee has dealt with injuries all season with James missing 12 games with knee and ankle injuries, Vescovi missing three games with a shoulder injury, Phillips missing four games with a hip injury and senior guard Tyreke Key missing two games with an ankle injury.

Phillips checked in with 15:35 left in the first half, returning to the floor for the first time since the first half of 86-85 loss to Missouri on February 11. James made his return Saturday in Tennessee’s 85-45 win over South Carolina, scoring 18 points in 21 minutes off the bench.

Zeigler is Tennessee’s second-leading scorer, averaging 11.0 points per game. He leads the Vols in assists, with 160 through 29 games, and steals, with 59. He recorded his fifth double-double of the season in the win over South Carolina on Saturday.

Up Next: No. 12 Tennessee at Auburn, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN

Tennessee will wrap up the regular-season schedule at Auburn on Saturday, a 2 p.m. Eastern Time start on ESPN. The Tigers, coming off a 32-point loss at Kentucky on Saturday, play at Alabama Wednesday before hosting Tennessee.

The Vols, who beat Auburn 46-43 at home on February 4, entered the final week of the regular season in fourth place in the SEC standings, a game ahead of Missouri, Auburn and Vanderbilt. The top four teams in the SEC’s regular-season standings earn a double-bye into the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament, which will be held March 8-13 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.