Look: Vols include Zakai Zeigler in celebration after win over Louisiana

ORLANDO — Zakai Zeigler is not with the Tennessee basketball team at the NCAA Tournament, but the sophomore point guard still got to celebrate with the Vols late Thursday night. Zeigler, who underwent ACL surgery on Monday, was on a FaceTime call with his teammates and head coach Rick Barnes after No. 4 Tennessee beat No. 13 Louisiana 58-55 in the first round.

The Vols (24-10) will face No. 5-seed Duke (27-8) on Saturday (2:40 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS) in the second round at Amway Center, with a spot in the Sweet Sixteen on the line.

Thursday’s game was Tennessee’s fourth without Zeigler, who suffered the torn ACL early in the win over Arkansas on February 28 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

HEY Z @Realzakaiz pic.twitter.com/oar5JZdtJJ

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) March 17, 2023

Tennessee got 12 points from Tyreke Key in the win over the Ragin’ Cajuns and 11 more from Jahmai Mashack. Uros Plavsic started and scored nine points and had four rebounds and Olivier Nkamhoua had eight points and five boards. Santiago Vescovi scored only three points after dealing with early foul trouble. Josiah-Jordan James finished with eight points and Santiago Vescovi had a season-low three points after dealing with early foul trouble.

Zeigler drove baseline with 17:06 left in the first half against Arkansas and crumpled to the floor with the non-contact injury. He had to be helped off the court with team trainer Chad Newman and strength coach Garrett Medenwald under each arm.

Tennessee went on to beat Arkansas 75-57 and have now played nearly four full games without Zeigler. The Vols lost at Auburn, 79-70, to close the regular-season schedule on March 4. They beat Ole Miss on Thursday in the SEC Tournament, then were eliminated by Missouri, 79-71, in the quarterfinal round.

Zakai Zeigler this season: 10.7 points, 5.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals in 28.7 minutes per game

Zeigler met with reporters last week in Nashville before the SEC Tournament, meeting with media for the first time since the injury. At the time, he was unaware of what his timeline for return would be.

“As of right now, I’m not really 1,000 percent sure,” Zeigler said at the time. “But I plan on being back next season, before we start.”

Zeigler traveled with his Tennessee teammates to Auburn and to the SEC Tournament. Should the Vols advance in the NCAA Tournament with a win on Thursday, they’ll face either No. 5 Duke or No. 12 Oral Roberts on Saturday.

Zeigler opened the scoring against Arkansas on a layup at the 18:55 mark and recorded an assist 67 seconds later on an Olivier Nkamhoua dunk to make it a 4-0 lead for Tennessee. The assist gave him 161 on the season, tying the number Kennedy Chandler finished with over 34 games last season.

Zeigler said last week he immediately started thinking after the injury how he would be able to help his team while sidelined.

“Because I knew once I went down, it was going to be a pretty bad injury,” he said. “I wasn’t sure at the time what it would be. But I was thinking how can I help the guys, no matter what the situation, no matter what the injury is. Just how can I stay positive?”

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 5 Duke, Saturday, 2:40 p.m. ET, CBS

At the time of the injury, Zeigler was tied with Nkamhoua as Tennessee’s second-leading scorer, averaging 10.7 points per game. He leads the Vols in assists — Santiago Vescovi’s 89 is second behind Zeigler’s 161 — and steals (59). He recorded his fifth double-double of the season in the win over South Carolina on Saturday.

He is second on the team in minutes, averaging 28.7 minutes while playing in all 30 games before the injury.

The key to moving on without him, Zeigler said, is his Tennessee teammates staying together.

“If we’re not together and trying to go individually on our own, it’s going to be a whole different ballgame, because we haven’t played like that all year. If we always stick together no matter what, we’ll be perfectly fine.”