Tennessee’s tall task of knocking off the #5 Florida Gators on Saturday at the Food City Center at Thompson-Boling Arena just got even taller.
The Vols are going to reportedly be without starting point guard Zakai Zeigler for the contest, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Tennessee senior Zakai Zeigler will not play against No. 5 Florida today, coach Rick Barnes told ESPN . He missed practice on Thursday with a knee injury, which he hurt against Kentucky on Tuesday. He averages 12.3 points for the Vols. pic.twitter.com/vttTOZzlEK
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 1, 2025
It goes without saying that this is a gigantic loss for the Vols. Zeigler is the floor general and the straw that stirs the drink on the offensive end of the floor, leading the team by a country mile in assists with 7.4 per game. Second is Igor Milicic, Jr. with 2.1. Zeigler’s 12.3 points per game also ranks second behind Chaz Lanier. He also leads the team in free throw percentage at 86.7%.
Defensively, Zeigler is a menace, suffocating opposing ball handlers and leading the team with 2.1 steals per game.
So, yeah. A really tough blow for Tennessee on Saturday morning. I am not sure how they win this game without him. I know it’s going to take players like Lanier and Jordan Gainey stepping up and taking over on the offensive end, something that I don’t have much confidence in happening after Tuesday night against the Kentucky Wildcats. Without question, they’re going to have to do better as a group than the 8-33 in uncontested threes against Kentucky.
We’ll find out soon enough if they can, as the schools are set to tip off in less than two hours.