Tennessee basketball’s matchup against Saint Peter’s in the first round of the NCAA Tournament will be a family affair.
Junior Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler will face his half-brother Armoni Zeigler on Thursday night in Charlotte. Armoni Zeigler is a freshman guard at Saint Peter’s and is averaging 6.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in 19 minutes per game this season.
Zakai Zeigler and Tennessee players knew that it was a possibility that Tennessee could match up and Saint Peter’s in the first round and it proved to be the case.
“We kind of knew from before that it could have been an option — us playing St. Peter’s,” super senior guard Santiago Vescovi said on Sunday. “We were kind of talking about it earlier.”
While the half-brothers are both guards, they have different games. Armoni is a 6-foot-4, 185-pound shooting guard. The difference in size was a joking point for Zakai and his teammates after CBS announced the matchup.
“We were kind of talking about it earlier,” Vescovi said. “I told him I was like you are going to have to guard your brother. He was like no you’ve got him. He is 6-5. We love it. I think it is going to be a great moment for both of them. It is a game they will both enjoy playing against each other. You don’t get to see that very often. His reaction, like everybody just started yelling in the locker room. He got on his phone right away probably with him. Very fun moment.”
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It’s not the only connection that Zakai has to the Saint Peter’s program. Under former coach Shaheen Holloway, Saint Peter’s was one of just two programs to offer Zeigler a take-it or leave-it scholarship early in the summer following his senior year.
The Long Island, New York native turned the Peacocks down and ended up blowing up at Peach Jam in Georgia before committing to Tennessee.
Zakai Zeigler is coming off his best collegiate season to date. After tearing his ACL late in the 2023 regular season, the 5-foot-9 point guard has returned with a vengeance this season, averaging 11.9 points and 5.8 assists per game.
The junior didn’t miss a game early in the season but wasn’t himself until the second half of the North Carolina game according to Rick Barnes. Zeigler earned First Team All-SEC honors according to the SEC’s coaches after averaging 14.1 points, seven assists and 2.1 assists per game in 18 SEC games.
After missing the NCAA Tournament last season. Barnes knows Zeigler will be fired up for this year’s tournament.
“I’m going to have to make sure he is not overly amped up because I know he’s gonna be excited to get out there and go after it,” Barnes said.
Zakai will have even more reason to be amped up as he faces his brother.
