Zakai Zeigler has become one of the most beloved players in Tennessee Basket history.
On Friday, the 5-foot-9 point guard was able to make program history when the fourth-seeded volunteers (25-6) take on the 13-seeded Texas (19-14) in the quarter final in the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville.
If Zeigler collects four assists, he will put a program with a season with 228, eclipse Rodney Woods from 1974-75. And Zeigler did not have the advantage of feeding Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld, as Woods did.
Not bad for a guy who four years ago had two commitment-now-or-forget-victims from Bryant and Saint Peter’s in the summer after he graduated from high school. Then he met seven 3 points in a Peach Jam game in Augusta, Ga., And suddenly the secret was out.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes has a history of turning small guards into stars – think Boogie McIntyre on Clemson or TJ Ford at Texas.
“He only plays at a high level,” Barnes said about Zeigler. “Seems like he never gets tired.”
Zeigler is an average of 13.1 points and 7.5 assists per match for the eighth ranked volunteers, who enter the tournament outside a 75-65 victory on Saturday over South Carolina in her regular season. Chaz Lanier leads the Tennessee attack with an average of 17.9 ppg, while Jordan Gainey (10.9) and Igor Milicic (10.2) also hit extra numbers.
With Zeigler who distributes and takes care of the ball, Tennessee is ranked 19th Division I in the Assistant rounding quota of 1.6. The volunteers also offer a physical defense that stands out at the Rim protection and ranked 17th place in the nation of 5.1 blocked shots per match.
How Longhorns stay against such a physical opponent will be the story in the game. They will play their third match on so many days after surviving the fifth-seeded Texas A&M on Thursday for a 94-89 victory with double overtime in the second round.
Six players made in double numbers for Texas, led by the beginner Three Johnson with 20 points. He made only 8 out of 21 shots from the field, but one was a clutch 3-pointer on the other overtime who gave his team the lead for good at 87-85 with 2:08 left.
Johnson was asked after the match about his heavy workload so far will affect him after logging 38 minutes Wednesday in a victory 79-72 over Vanderbilt and 44 on Thursday.
“The biggest thing for me is getting a good night’s rest,” he said. “I feel it has helped me. I got a lot of gas in the thought. I was not too tired out there, especially to go twice overtime. Haven’t done it before.”
Johnson is an average of 20.1 ppg of 42.7 percent shooting from the field. If he can call another great effort, it may result in Longhorn’s losing a large NCAA bid that did not seem possible when they lost the regular season finale Saturday against Oklahoma.
Texas coach Rodney Terry scored a goal for his team after their emotional victory against their Archdrival, Texas A&M.
“We have star power,” he said. “We play well. I think anything that matters.”
The winner of this matchup will move on to a semi -final on Saturday afternoon against either top seeds Auburn or No. 8 Frö Ole Miss.
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