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Rick Barnes said after Tennessee’s blowout victory over Florida on Saturday that senior guard Zakai Zeigler had an MRI that showed no structural damage in his knee, but the medical staff said he could not play against the Gators.
Zeigler runs the show at the point for No. 8 Tennessee, but the risk was too great to allow him to play in the showdown game against 5th-ranked Florida. Zeigler was listed as out on the SEC’s injury report on Saturday morning.
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Zeigler left Tuesday night’s game against Kentucky with a right knee injury, but he returned to start the second half and did finish the game. But according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Zeigler didn’t practice on Thursday, which put his status for Saturday’s game in jeopardy.
Tennessee was able to thrive without Zeigler against the Gators, pulling away for a 64-44 victory after leading by just 3 points at the half.
Zeigler is a staple in the Volunteers’ lineup, having started each of their first 21 games of the season. He leads Tennessee in minutes played (34.3 per game) and is the Vols’ second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per contest. Zeigler is also averaging a conference-leading 7.4 assists per game as well as 2.1 steals.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
