Tennessee’s dynamo level guard Zakai Ziegler has torn his ACL and can miss the rest of the season, per the Tennessee Volunteers’ official Twitter account.
On Tuesday, Ziegler went down early within the first half of Tennessee’s win over Arkansas. Sadly, this provides to the litany of accidents which have plagued Tennessee’s 2022-2023 marketing campaign. Josiah-Jordan James, Santiago Vescovi, Julian Phillips, and Tyreke Key have all missed a number of video games this season. Regardless of this, Tennessee stays an analytical large, possessing top-four scores on Kenpom, T-Rank, and Haslametrics.
A Naismith Defensive Participant of the 12 months semifinalist, Ziegler averaged 10.7 factors, 5.4 assists, and a couple of steals a sport. Ziegler’s manufacturing will take plenty of work to switch as he has the best utilization price on the group. Who steps up?
Santiago Vescovi
Vescovi has been Tennessee’s finest participant this season. He’s the main scorer on the group and has been elite on each ends. The guard will proceed to hold a considerable portion of the offense on his shoulders. Vescovi should stay environment friendly for this offense. With the depth within the entrance courtroom, Vescovi should be capable to present the surface scoring Tennessee will likely be lacking.
Jahmai Mashack
Lauded for his immense defensive potential, Mashack will likely be relied on to select up some point-creation accountability. Whereas not acknowledged for his potential as a shooter, Mashack is a reliable passer and rebounding guard. Since shedding to Vanderbilt, Mashack has seen his minutes improve vastly. His size and defensive stopping potential will likely be paramount to Tennessee’s long-term success.
Tyreke Key
Lacking the final two video games, Tyreke Key’s anticipated to return to play at Auburn on Saturday. Whereas not the prototypical lead guard, Key possesses sufficient offensive creativity to select up some offensive potential misplaced with Ziegler’s absence. Nonetheless, Key has had a brutal season capturing the basketball at a fairly excessive quantity. For a group with nationwide championship hopes, the Vols have little room for a major step backward on offense. Whereas not Curry-like from three, Ziegler was a high-volume three-point shooter and ranked fifteenth within the SEC in threes made per sport, along with his elite playmaking potential.
Per BetOnline, Tennessee is +1800 to win the nationwide championship and +400 to achieve the Ultimate 4.
