Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler exited the Vols’ rivalry matchup against Kentucky in the first half due to what appears to be a knee injury.
*Zeigler returned to the court to start the second half
Zeigler drove hard to the basket and fell to the ground while drawing contact and a foul. He quickly popped up and speedily limped straight past the Tennessee bench and all the way up the tunnel towards the Vols’ locker room.
It looked like Zeigler’s right knee extended on the play as he came down awkwardly from the fall.
“I don’t know for him to run off the court it worries me because I have never seen him do that,” Tennessee had coach Rick Barnes said to ESPN at halftime. “I would expect him to bounce right back up (when he hit the floor). It’s something for him to do that. I’m worried about it.”
Zeigler is set to warm up with the team during halftime with the intent to play in the second half.
Zakai Zeigler will warm up with the intent to return for the second half, per a UT spokesperson.
Zeigler suffered a right knee injury in the first half against Kentucky.
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) January 29, 2025
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The senior point guard suffered the injury with 2:17 left in the first half and was having a poor shooting performance. Zeigler had two points on one-of-eight shooting from the field. Like he almost always does when he struggles shooting, Zeigler was doing everything else well, totaling three assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Tennessee trailed 30-22 when Zeigler exited but the injury sparked the Vols. They finished the first half on an 11-0 run to take a 33-30 lead into the halftime break, the time that this article was published.
Zeigler is averaging 12.3 points, 7.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game to this point in the season. The reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year has been Tennessee’s most consistent player to this point in the season.
Stay tuned to RockyTopInsider.com the rest of the night for further updates on Zeigler’s injury and complete coverage of Tennessee basketball’s matchup against Kentucky.