BETTER THAN OK
COMEBACK FROM INJURY SEEMS COMPLETE FOR VOLS’ ZIEGLER
Tennessee junior point guard Zakai Zeigler is through with questions regarding whether he is absolutely, completely, positively, fully recovered from the torn anterior cruciate ligament he sustained in late February.
“I’m back,” Zeigler said in a news conference after the No. 12 Volunteers defeated North Carolina State 79-70 on Saturday night in San Antonio. “That’s all I can really say. I’m back.”
Defining the adage that actions speak louder than words, the 5-foot-9, 171-pounder, from Long Island, New York, tormented the Wolfpack by amassing 20 points, eight assists and four steals. Zeigler did so in 38 minutes and 34 seconds of playing time, nearly nine minutes more than any of his teammates.
The win against the Wolfpack (7-3) marked Tennessee’s 11th game of the season, and it was the first time Zeigler had logged more than 30 minutes.
“In some ways, he dominated the tempo and the flow of the game,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “The four steals were big in terms of disrupting them. He had a great line, and he got his teammates involved. He was terrific.”
When asked if he thinks Zeigler is fully back to normal, Barnes said, “I don’t know if I’d say that, but he’s close. Mentally, he’s definitely 100% back.”
Tennessee outscored N.C. State by 11 points during Zeigler’s lengthy time on the floor.
“I just felt confident in getting downhill,” Zeigler said. “It was open not only for me but my teammates, and we were able to get whatever we wanted. We were able to play with pace, get downhill and not let the defense beat us up.”
The Vols improved to 8-3 and next play Thursday night inside the Food City Center against Tarleton State, a Western Athletic Conference member located in Stephenville, Texas. Tennessee’s taxing nonconference schedule continues to pay dividends within the sport’s various metrics, with the Vols as of Sunday afternoon standing seventh nationally in the KenPom rankings and eighth in the NET rankings.
Barnes was pleased with the way Zeigler and fifth-year senior guard Josiah-Jordan James — who matched a career high against the Wolfpack with 23 points — bounced back from last Tuesday night and the dreary second-half performance during the 74-56 victory over Georgia Southern. Saturday wasn’t the desired rebound for fifthyear senior guard Dalton Knecht, the Northern Colorado transfer who scored 37 points in the 100-92 loss at North Carolina on Nov. 29 and is Tennessee’s leading scorer at 16.5 points per game.
Knecht tallied just two points against N.C. State on 1-of-7 shooting and is 3-of-14 in the past two games.
“He’s going to have to adjust, because he’s playing at a totally different level,” Barnes said. “He’s seeing some things that he’s never seen before. He’s seen where teams are trying to get physical with him as teams have done the last couple of games.
“He’ll learn from it because he wants to. He doesn’t have to press that hard on offense, because these guys want to get him the ball.”
Nearing 800 wins
Barnes earned his 787th career victory Saturday, grabbing sole possession of 15th all-time among all college coaches who have spent at least five seasons at Division I programs.
He had been tied with Lefty Driesell, who went 786-394 during a career with Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State. Driesell has a Christmas birthday and is days away from turning 92.
Wallace commits
Tennessee picked up the 20th football commitment for its 2024 signing class Sunday afternoon, receiving a nonbinding pledge from Jamal Wallace, a 6-2, 302-pound defensive lineman from Sierra College in Rocklin, California. Wallace will have three years to play two seasons for the Vols.
Wallace is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, and picked Tennessee over Houston and Utah State, according to 247Sports.com.