The Tennessee Vols basketball team was on the verge of suffering back-to-back losses, as the squad was on the ropes against Texas. With Chaz Lanier having a bit of an off night against the Longhorns, head coach Rick Barnes needed someone else to deliver for him.
That's where Zakai Zeigler stepped in. Zeigler led Tennessee with a team-high 16 points, helping the Vols post their thrilling 74-70 victory over Texas. Zeigler was jacked up following the final whistle and rightfully so - it was a performance to remember for him.
Zeigler may not be known around the country as being a super flashy offensive player, but Barnes appreciates the passion and work ethic he brings to the locker room. He made that much clear following the win over the weekend, praising Zeigler for his brilliant mentality.
Rick Barnes loves the drive Zakai Zeigler brings to the Tennessee locker room
"Well, one, he's fearless," Barnes said of Zeigler via 247Sports. "I mean after the game the other night, I took him out with — he wouldn't come out really. He didn't wanna come outta the game and he just said, 'coach, I'm not quitting.' We were down whatever, 30, whatever it was. He's so hard on himself. He just wants to get it right all the time. And when things aren't going well, he's going to bear down more. Which sometimes works against him. But it's in his DNA. It's who he is. It's how he grew up. I actually talked to a team about it this week. I said, there's nobody in this room that grew up the way Zakai Ziegler did. Nobody. And that fight in him, that DNA, I wish I could bottle it. I do, I wish I could. First time I saw him, he's the same. What you see him do here, he does every day in practice. Right now, we realize we gotta try to rest him as much in practice as we can because I love playing point guards a lot of minutes, but the fact is he wants to play and he's special."
In the embarrassing 30-point loss to Florida, nothing went right for Tennessee. However, Barnes said that Zeigler didn't want to come out of the game and he wanted to fight until there was no time left on the clock. Come on, that's just awesome right there.
With things close against Texas, Zeigler also didn't back down, doing what was needed to help his team improve to 15-1 on the year. Thus far this campaign, Zeigler is averaging 11.9 points and 7.6 assists per game. He's been steady for Barnes and that needs to keep being the case with the heart of the conference schedule on the way.