Tennessee Freshman Zakai Zeigler Earns SEC Honors
The Vols' freshman point guard Zakai Zeigler has been named SEC Freshman of the Week, announced by the league on Monday afternoon.
#SECMBB 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸:@Realzakaiz | @Vol_Hoops
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) February 7, 2022
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Zeigler becomes the second Vol to earn the honor, as fellow freshman point guard Kennedy Chandler received the SEC Freshman of the Week award on November 15 following season-opening performances against UT Martin and ETSU.
Zeigler earns the honor after posting back-to-back double-digit efforts against Texas A&M and South Carolina in the past week. The New York product was instrumental in the Vols' ability to have a bounce-back offensive performance against the Aggies, as Zeigler scored 14 points and provided a couple of splash plays in Knoxville last Tuesday.
HE MADE HIM TOUCH EARTH 🤯😱 pic.twitter.com/xHKMIOVx62
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 2, 2022
Against the Gamecocks, the Vols secured a 21-point win on the road, the largest margin of victory Tennessee has had over a Power six opponent this season. Zeigler did not score a point in the first half, but the freshman posted 18 in the second half, ultimately tying his career-high single-game point total in just 20 minutes. Zeigler was 6-9 from the field against South Carolina, including a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc.
The freshman is averaging a whopping 13.8 points per game in his last four outings and has now posted double digits in seven of the Vols' ten conference outings. In that ten-game stretch, Zeigler is the orange and white's third-leading scorer with 9.4 points per game.
Zeigler and the Vols stay on the road for a mid-week bout against Mississippi State on Wednesday, February 9, at 9 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will have the broadcast.
Photo Credit: Tennessee Athletics