Rick Barnes on Zakai Zeigler playing the full 40 minutes against Texas: 'He's an iron man'
CHARLOTTE — At one point in the second half Saturday night, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes looked at Zakai Zeigler and asked him if he was good. Did he need to check out? Or could he keep going?
“Zakai looked at him kind of crazy, like of course I’m good,” Tennessee fifth-year senior Josiah-Jordan James said afterward, “why would you even ask me something like that?”
It was a waste of breath for Barnes. Zeigler never left the floor in No. 2 Tennessee’s 62-58 win over No. 7 Texas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region.
In 40 minutes Zeigler had six points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals, helping will the Vols to the Sweet Sixteen this week in Detroit despite a 2-for-12 shooting performance, including just 1 of 8 at the 3-point line.
“He’s just a super hero,” James said. “We wouldn’t be in this position without his leadership, his aggressiveness.”
“He’s an iron man,” Barnes added. “He never takes himself out in practice. Believe me, we practice hard. I asked him, I said, you good? You good? And I trust him.”
Zakai Zeigler this season: 11.7 points, 6.0 assists, 2.7 rebounds, 1.8 steals in 31.1 minutes per game
It’s the same thing in games. Barnes explained scenarios in which his assistant coaches will point out the time on the clock and ask if it’s a time they should get Zeigler some rest.
“And my answer is, ‘I’ll ask him,’” Barnes said. “I’ll look at him.”
A year ago, Zeigler was in a knee brace at the Sweet Sixteen at Madison Square Garden, stuck on a scooter after undergoing surgery on his torn ACL just before the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Now he’s leading Tennessee back to the third round while averaging 11.7 points, 6.0 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals while shooting 39.7% from the field, career highs across the board.
He leads the Vols in minutes, too, at 31.1 per game.
“Even though he had a tough night shooting the ball,” Barnes said, “it’s just the little things that he does out there.”
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Zeigler and Santiago Vescovi both had three steals each, part of the 10 combined turnovers between Texas guards Tyrese Hunter (6) and Max Abmas (4). Tennessee scored 15 points off 17 Texas turnovers.
“And we got ten extra shots,” Barnes said. “The points off the turnovers was really probably the difference in the game.”
Barnes asked Zeigler if he was tired after he missed a block out on a Texas shot at the rim late in the game, leading to an offensive rebound for the Longhorns.
“And he knows I’m going to get him for it because we kept talking about we can’t ever leave this tournament with somebody not blocking out,” Barnes said. “We were fortunate they missed that follow-up there at the end.”
This time around in this tournament, the Vols are fortunate to have Zeigler on the floor, for the full 40 or not.
“He’s the engine that ignites us,” James said. “We thrive off of him. For him to play 40 minutes in a situation like this, I don’t think he’d want to have it any other way. That’s just a testament to how tough he is.”
