Tennessee Vols' Josiah-Jordan James explains Zakai Zeigler's steely mentality during win over Texas Longhorns
Volunteer fans left the arena with nubs on the ends of their fingers on Saturday night after Tennessee's 62-58 win over Texas. After leading by 11 points in the second half, Tennessee fans saw the lead trimmed down as quickly as their fingernails disappeared. And with as many open looks clanging off the rim, one […]
Volunteer fans left the arena with nubs on the ends of their fingers on Saturday night after Tennessee's 62-58 win over Texas. After leading by 11 points in the second half, Tennessee fans saw the lead trimmed down as quickly as their fingernails disappeared.
And with as many open looks clanging off the rim, one might wonder just how much the program's past failures were in the heads of their players. How much the pressure of going home was forcing mistakes and misfires.
Well, not in the mind of the Vols' Zakai Zeigler, according to his teammate. Forward Josiah-Jordan James illustrated that after the game with a short anecdote about an exchange between Zeigler and head coach Rick Barnes during the game.
"There was one point – I don't know if it was in the first half or second half – I was on the bench, and coach was like (to Zeigler), 'are you good?' And Zakai looked at him kind of crazy, like 'yeah, of course I'm good. Like, why would you even ask me something like that?'
"He's just a superhero. We obviously wouldn't be in this position without his leadership, his aggressiveness. He's the engine that unites us, and we thrive off of him. For him to play 40 minutes in a situation like this, I don't think he would want to have it any other way. That's just a testament to how tough he is."
Zeigler, who played a game-high 40 minutes, didn't have his shot on Saturday, which was par for the course for the entire Tennessee team that shot a combined 33.8% (22-65) for the field and 12% (3-25) from behind the arc. Zeigler made only 2 of 12 attempts while matching Knecht's 1-8 from three.
However, it was the things that Zeigler did elsewhere that made the difference in a tight, ugly game. Despite 4 turnovers, Zeigler contributed 7 assists, 3 steals, and solid defense on the perimeter.
Tennessee is moving on to the Motor City to face Creighton on Friday night in the Midwest regional semifinal. Thanks to Tennessee's not-so-little engine-that-could, the Vols are still chugging along on their quest to reach their first ever Final Four.
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