KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Just a few minutes into Tuesday's SEC battle between Tennessee and Arkansas, Vols point guard Zakai Zeigler landed awkwardly on his left leg and left the floor to a hushed crowd, with many fearing the worst for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award finalist.
The fears were confirmed shortly after the game, with Tennessee reporting Zeigler will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
Zeigler finished the year averaging 10.7 points, 5.4 assists and 2.0 steals per game, and his absence will make things a lot tougher for Rick Barnes and the Vols - even though they were able to regroup and defeat the Razorbacks to move to 22-8 on the year.
Tennessee now has to figure out who will step into the point guard role heading into the SEC and NCAA Tournament, and Locked on Vols podcast host Eric Cain believes the team will use a committee approach going forward.
"Tennessee has two guys who have experience playing point guard in the SEC, that is Santiago Vescovi who played it his first two years and Josiah-Jordan James," Cain told Isaac Schade of the Locked on College Basketball podcast. "Those guys can kind of do it by committee."
Finding someone to bring the ball up the floor isn't exactly the biggest issue for the Vols, however, as this team needs shot creation in a major way and loses perhaps their strongest player in that regard.
"He's one of the few that can create their own shots," Cain continued. "This is a huge loss for Tennessee. It's gonna hurt them."
The Vols close out the regular season on the road against an Auburn team that desperately needs a win after blowing a lead against Alabama, before they line up for the SEC Tournament.
Currently projected as a number three seed, Tennessee still has the talent to make a deep run in the Big Dance, but not having Zeigler will hurt this team on both sides of the ball.