Tennessee’s Rick Barnes explains how he lit a fire under Zakai Zeigler

The No. 5-ranked Tennessee Volunteers needed all the energy they could muster this Saturday against Vanderbilt because they were in trouble in the first half.

The Vols went into the locker room down 44-31 and the greatest deficit they faced was at one point 16. Senior guard Zakai Zeigler was 0-of-2 from the floor with zero points and the Volunteers appeared to be quickly heading to just their sixth loss on the season.

And then something happened at halftime. Zeigler came out of the locker room and went on to score 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting, which included a perfect 3-of-3 from downtown. He finished the game with those 22 points, eight assists and a block, and head coach Rick Barnes said after the contest that Zeigler came out after halftime feeling chippy.

“I thought he got back and played with a real chip on his shoulder. I thought he got back and his competitive spirit showed up, Barnes told the media in the postgame (h/t On3).

Zeigler essentially willed Tennessee on to the win, but he wasn’t the only one who played well in that second half. The Volunteers completely switched up their mentality. They were outrebounded in the first half by Vandy, 21-10. In the second half, they turned that into a 20-12 advantage.

According to Barnes, he may have said a thing or two to pump Zeigler and the rest of the team up.

“The guy that we’ve always known, that’s who he was in the second half … People game plan for him, but he was just determined, he’s strong with the ball,” Barnes said of Zeigler. “Got mad at me, probably because I said some things to him I don’t normally say, but to challenge him a little bit, and I thought he responded well.”

Zeigler and the Vols rose up to the challenge, and now their next one will come against No. 8 Texas A&M on the road on Saturday. One would imagine Tennessee’s biggest challenge during this brief period of time off is staying locked in like the team was in the second half against Vandy. Perhaps Barnes will have to issue another challenge.