Dan Fleser: UT Point Guard Lights Up In Big 2nd Half

  • Thursday, January 16, 2025
  • Dan Fleser
Dan Fleser
Dan Fleser

The Tennessee basketball team that managed just 25 points in the first half against Georgia Wednesday night erupted for 26 in the first 7½ minutes after halftime. The difference? Same ol’ Zakai Zeigler.

“Just really truly being Zakai,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “Just really being who he is.”

UT’s point guard lit up like a pinball machine during that decisive stretch. Here’s his personal log: Assist on Jahmai Mashack’s 3-pointer; steal, rebound of his missed shot, steal Georgia’s inbounds pass and feed Jordan Gainey for a dunk, assist on Mashack layup, assist on Cade Phillips’ dunk, 3-pointer, steal, 3 pointer, 3 pointer.


When Zeigler’s lights had stopped flashing and his bells had ceased to ring, a one-point Tennessee deficit had become a 21-point advantage instead, a prelude to the 74-56 victory.

“(Zakai’s) confidence level, competitive spirit, it definitely rubs off on his teammates,” Barnes said. “It really does.”

Zeigler’s ability to do the work of three players is especially important to this team, which is working with only nine scholarship players. Barnes believes nine to be enough but his faith already is being tested by conference play.

Transfer guard Chaz Lanier, who’s been leading both the team and conference in scoring, hasn’t reached his per-game average in the past two games combined, scoring just 15 points. He had five against Georgia and shot 2-for-16 from the floor (1 for 9 on 3-pointers).

Lanier passed up a shot in last Saturday’s game at Texas on a play that was designed for him. He was promptly benched by Barnes, whose reasoning reflected this new era of college athletics.

“I told him, I said, ‘If you’re not going to do what you’re getting paid to do, you sit over here.’ Because he is getting paid to do that.”

Along with Zeigler, three other Vols helped cover for Lanier’s struggles against Georgia. Veteran guards Gainey and Mashack combined for 30 points with Gainey scoring a team-high 19.

Mashack essentially wasn’t guarded by Texas and was in the gym early Sunday morning, according to a graduate assistant who texted Barnes. Mashack scored the first basket against the Bulldogs and made all five of his field-goal attempts.

From the other end of the spectrum, sophomore forward Phillips, who is playing with an injured shoulder, scored eight of his 10 points in the first half, when Tennessee was struggling for any sort of scoring. Two of his baskets came on powerful dunks. At Texas, he had missed an easy shot from in front of the rim. His ailing shoulder likely was the reason.

Said Barnes: “I asked him one day, I said, ‘How’s the shoulder?’ He said, ‘It doesn’t matter. I’m playing.’”

Against Texas, transfer guard Darlinstone Dubar expanded UT’s ranks by setting personal highs with 12 points and six rebounds. He combined his scoring and rebounding on one thunderous play, soaring down the foul lane for an offensive rebound and putback dunk to tie the score with about six minutes left. The Vols went on to win 74-70.

“It just flipped everybody; energy. I was saying that to him, like ‘Yo, you just changed the game. You don’t even know. You just changed the game.”

Zeigler was speaking from experience about such an impact.

* * *

Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who has covered University of Tennessee athletics since 1988. He is a member of the Tennessee Sportswriters, U.S Basketball Writers and Greater Knoxville Sports Halls of Fame. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.

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