Zakai Zeigler’s impressive performance against Ole Miss on Saturday night put him atop the Tennessee record books in a memorable category.
With 17 points and 10 assists, Zeigler recorded the sixth points/assists double-double of his career against the Rebels. The game on Saturday was Zeigler’s first double-double of the 2023-2024 season.
According to Tennessee Stats and Info, “Zeigler is the first player ever to record six points/assists double-doubles for the Volunteers, breaking a tie with Rodney Woods (1972-75) atop the career leaderboard.”
The first double-double of Zeigler’s career came on January 3, 2023, against Mississippi State, meaning that all of Zeigler’s record-breaking double-doubles have come in just about a one year stretch despite an ACL injury in the middle of that timeline. All of Zeigler’s double-doubles have also come against Power 5 competition:
- Jan. 3, 2023 – 11 points, 10 assists against Mississippi State
- Jan. 21, 2023 – 12 points, 10 assists against LSU
- Jan. 28, 2023 – 22 points, 10 assists against Texas
- Feb. 11, 2023 – 11 points, 10 assists against Missouri
- Feb. 25, 2023 – 13 points, 11 rebounds against South Carolina
- Jan. 6, 2024 – 17 points, 10 assists against Ole Miss
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One of the most impactful aspects of Zeigler’s emergence on the court in the month of December was his three-point shooting prowess. Tennessee’s postgame press release states that “Zeigler has connected on four-plus 3-pointers in three of the last four games—he is 13-of-34 (42.4 percent) from deep during that stretch—after previously doing so twice in his first 75 appearances.”
Zakai Zeigler only averaged five points per game over the first eight games of Tennessee’s season as he worked his way back on the court from the ACL tear that was suffered last February. Since then, though, Zeigler has been a major playmaker on the court for the Vols’ offense. The junior point guard is now averaging 14 points and six assists per game over his last six contests.
No. 5 Tennessee gave No. 22 Ole Miss their first loss of the season on Saturday night as the Vols made a statement to open SEC play with a 90-64 win. The Vols will head to Starkville to take on Mississippi State this Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. ET.
