What Rick Barnes said about Zakai Zeigler's injury scare against Kentucky
Rick Barnes was worried because of the way Zakai Zeigler reacted. After driving to the rim with 2:17 left in the first half Tuesday night against Kentucky, Zeigler’s right knee buckled awkwardly and he fell to the floor after being fouled.
Tennessee’s senior point guard then jumped up, hobbled as he jogged toward the bench, then went straight into the tunnel toward the Tennessee locker room.
“Obviously (it was) something that bothered him,” Barnes said during his postgame press conference, after No. 8 Tennessee’s 78-73 loss to No. 12 Kentucky, “because he would never do what he did, going straight back (to the locker room).”
Zakai Zeigler returned to play all 20 minutes in second half vs. Kentucky
Zeigler didn’t return for the final two minutes of the first half. The ESPN broadcast later reported that Zeigler was on a stationary bike in the tunnel after having the knee looked at.
“For him to run off the court it worries me,” Barnes told ESPN as he left the floor at halftime, “because I have never seen him do that. I would expect him to bounce right back up (when he went down). It’s something for him to do that, I’m worried about it.”
Any concerns were eased when Zeigler returned to the floor with his teammates for warmups after halftime and played all 20 minutes in the second half.
Barnes said he didn’t see any change in the way Zeigler played in the second half after suffering the injury.
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“He said he felt like he could go,” Barnes said.
Zeigler finished with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds in a team-high 35 minutes.
“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’s knee injury against Kentucky was to his right knee. Zeigler suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in February 2023 in the final home game of the 2022-23 season, but returned in time to start the 2023-24 season.
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 February 2023, Zeigler returned to average 31.6 minutes per game, starting 30 times in 36 games during the 2023-24 season.
Barnes described the injury scare against Kentucky as “a sprain or something like that,” but Zeigler was cleared by Tennessee’s medical staff.
“Stability wise,” Barnes said, “they checked out while he was back there and it was all fine.”
