INDIANAPOLIS — With less than five minutes to go Friday night in the Sweet 16, Zakai Zeigler did something no other Tennessee player had dared attempt all season against this opponent.
Tennessee’s masterful guard pointed to the scoreboard.
You see, in the previous two meetings against Kentucky, the Vols had never led by more than three at any point. That failing contributed to a greater failure — losing twice to the Wildcats this season.
In the house that Manning built, Lucas Oil Stadium, from the seat Peyton Manning actually sat in near the Tennessee bench, the view was pretty good this time for the Vols.
When Zeigler pointed upward, it might have been the official seal on the 78-65 triumph that was, in order:
- Tennessee’s first win over Kentucky this season.
- The one that pushed the Vols into the Elite Eight for the second straight year, where they’ll have a chance Sunday against No. 1 seed Houston to make the program’s first Final Four.
Just don’t ask the two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year to remember the moment when he called his shot. Sort of.
“For real?” Zeigler said when told where he had pointed.
Yeah, for really real. Whether the 5-foot-9 heart and soul of the Vols wants to admit it, that was his moment, a rubber stamp on a return to his game. This is also the Vols’ moment.
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The win thrust coach Rick Barnes to within a game of his second career Final Four and first in 22 years since taking Texas there in 2003.
But shedding Kentucky from its psyche, and off its back, is what meant most to the Vols, who won their 30th game for the second time under Barnes.
“We knew what it was coming down to,” Zeigler said. “They were trying to get in our head. It’s basketball. Emotions of the game got the best of us.”
Less than 15 minutes into the game, the Vols led by 15.
The margin grew to 19. Any doubt about the result had pretty much been milked out of the giant stadium at halftime. Who cares if Manning was booed by Big Blue Nation when he was shown on the scoreboard? The Vols had the scoreboard.
Zeigler just needed to make it official. He did it with his second double-double of the tournament and 13th of his career – 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Zeigler also set the SEC single-season assist record with his first helper of the game. He broke the previous record set by Ole Miss’ Sean Tuohy in 1979-80.
That’s right, the real-life dad in “The Blind Side,” which also describes the angle from which Tennessee launched itself at Kentucky.
“We were the aggressor,” Zeigler said. “We swung, and we kept on swinging.”
The ponytailed native of Long Island, N.Y., now is in rare air. Only three other players all-time have averaged 15 points, nine assists and two steals through the first three games of the tournament.
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Markquis Nowell, Kansas State, 2023
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Sam Crawford, New Mexico State, 1992
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Billy Donovan, Providence, 1987
Barnes once mercilessly rode his point guards. Ask the talented guys he had at Texas — T.J. Ford, Daniel Gibson or DJ Augustin. Barnes has mellowed in Knoxville. But we know Zeigler’s been through the Rick Barnes Point Guard Bootcamp. No chance the former three-star recruit, with offers from the likes of Minneosta, Boston College and Wichita State, could have become this good otherwise.
The Kentucky losses had to bother Barnes, especially because his guards had played so badly against Kentucky. Zeigler and Chaz Lanier had combined to shoot four of 30 from the arc in the first two meetings. Zeigler was 1-for-13 in those games.
This time the Vols defended the Wildcats on the three-point line and outrebounded Kentucky 34-24. The result marked the largest point differential for Tennessee against Kentucky since 2019. It tied for Kentucky’s lowest point total of the season.
It’s hard to beat a team three times in a season. It’s even harder when it’s personal.
“This is what happens when you’re going hard for 40 minutes,” said Lanier, speaking through a bloody lower lip. “It’s tough out there. This is what comes with it. This is the fun part.”
The SEC was assured of a spot in the Elite Eight before the game tipped. It was just a case of which program’s longing would end. Kentucky hasn’t been to a Final Four in, well, forever – which translates to 2015. Tennessee hadn’t been to one – ever.
“It would mean everything,” said Zeigler, already dreaming of a Final Four berth. “It would mean everything for Vol Nation.”
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Taking the next step has stuck with Zeigler since being eliminated by Purdue last year in the regional final.
“Once the game ended, I think I went home and I watched that game 20 or 30 times,” he said. “I remember some plays we might have looked lazy on … I looked tired. Watching that game last year as many times as I did definitely hurt.”
Zeigler made sure everyone knew Tennessee was in control after a slight dust-up between the two sides underneath the Kentucky basket with 4:43 left. After officials separated the players, calling Flagrant II fouls on each team, Zeigler came out of the scrum pointing up at the scoreboard.
The only thing missing was the two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year uttering, “It’s over.”
Except that would have been redundant. The game had long ago been decided thanks to Zeigler, who got his inspiration watching 6-foot Kemba Walker, also a product of the Empire State, lead UConn to the 2011 championship. Zeigler is now considered among the best point guards in Tennessee history.
When his family lost their house to a fire in February 2022, Vols fans raised enough money for them to move to Knoxville and buy a new house.
“They left their mark on me as much as I left mine on them,” Zeigler told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
There are more marks to be made by Tennessee. Kentucky was a nuisance that had to be removed. It wasn’t just a thorn in Tennessee’s paw, but this time a season-on-the-line blockade.
Those first two meetings were monumental disappointments for Tennessee.
But this time, well, it counted.
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