How Rick Barnes got the best of Zakai Zeigler in the second-half rally past Vanderbilt
Zakai Zeigler’s mother, Charmane, was the first to perfect the art. She knew when she wanted to get the best out of her son, all she had to do was piss him off.
“She always told me my whole life, ‘get mad, get mad,’” Zeigler said Saturday afternoon. “She would say stuff to me during the game. Or if I’m not playing so well, she’d just look at me a certain type of way.”
Zeigler knew the look. And he admitted there were times he would look for it, knowing the visual daggers his mom was throwing from the stands.
“I would look in the crowd,” he said, “see her face and know it. Know what time it is, know that she’s a little bit mad at me right now.”
At halftime Saturday, with No. 5 Tennessee getting blitzed by visiting Vanderbilt at Food City Center, Rick Barnes went to that same well with his senior point guard.
“He got mad at me probably,” Barnes said, “because I said some things to him I don’t normally say to challenge him a little bit.”
Zeigler was scoreless after the first half and had taken just two shots from the floor. His only turnover came in the opening minute of the game, the second of back-to-back Tennessee turnovers that helped Vandy jump out to a 6-0 lead in a blink.
The lead would grow to as many as 16 points before settling at 44-31 at halftime.
“We knew in the first half we didn’t execute some things,” Zeigler said, “we didn’t play with the same type of fire that we were supposed to come out with.”
Zakai Zeigler in second half vs. Vandy: 22 points, 7-9 FG, 3-4 3FG
Zeigler answered the challenge from his head coach, using his new-found fire to score 22 points in the second half, leading Tennessee’s comeback to beat Vanderbilt 81-76.
In the second half he shot 7-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-4 from the 3-point line. He was 5-for-6 at the foul line, had four assists and added a block in a nearly flawless 20 minutes.
“Coach Barnes said some things to us,” Zeigler said, “and I felt like it put a fire under us. We just came out with a different type of energy.”
Barnes described Zeigler in the second half as getting back to “playing with a really chip on his shoulder,” adding that Zeigler’s “competitive spirit really showed up.”
“The first half, he was getting driven by — things he normally doesn’t do,” Barnes said. “I thought that was it. I thought the guy that we’ve always known, that is who he was in the second half. People game plan for him. He was just determined. He was strong with the ball.”
Strong is the word to describe Zeigler’s season. He’s averaging 13.4 points, 7.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game.
Since missing the Florida game on February 1 with a right knee injury, he has scored 77 points, going 10-for-14 from the 3-point line, with 33 assists, eight rebounds and six steals.
His 22 points in the second half made him the first Tennessee player to score 20 or more points in a half since Dalton Knecht did so last March.
“I guess I would I say I was in a ‘I’m going to prove him wrong’ type of mindset,” Zeigler said of his response to Barnes. “‘I’m going to show you. This is what you think? Alright. Don’t worry about it.’”
‘I have such a high standard for him and he has got probably an even higher one for himself’
Barnes said he challenged Zeigler by questioning who was getting respected and who was getting disrespected in the first half.
“The things he was allowing to happen out there,” Barnes said, “ … I have such a high standard for him and he has got probably an even higher one for himself.”
“Him saying that,” Zeigler added, “it lit a fire under me. I wouldn’t say a back against the wall type of thing, but I knew in my head what he was trying to get at. I just had to change my mindset and go out there and do what I do for the team.”
It’s a fire that will have to stay lit for both Zeigler and the Vols with five games left on the regular-season schedule and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in the balance.
“Playing angry,” Zeigler said, “I feel like I’m just being a little more aggressive.”
Tennessee needs Zeigler to stay mad.
“He is at his best when he plays angry and with a chip on his shoulder,” Barnes said. “That is when he is at his best. He has always been a fighter his whole life. He is no different than anybody else … when guys get comfortable and think that every game is going to be the same, it is not.
“I liked it when he got that look on his face. When I think of him, I can see it in his eyes. He was terrific in the second half.”
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