Dalton Knecht is Tennessee’s biggest star. The under-the-radar transfer turned heads in the SEC, taking over numerous conference games to lead the Volunteers to the regular-season conference title and a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Unsurprisingly, Knecht was Tennessee’s top scorer in its hard-fought win over Texas. Knecht had 18 points, going 5-of-18 from the field on a night the Vols struggled, shooting 34% as a team. Kencht came up just short of a double-double, grabbing 9 rebounds.

Knecht didn’t have to be the Vols’ superman on Saturday night in Charlotte. That honor went to Zakai Zeigler.

Zeigler might seem like an odd choice for superhero at first glance. He was just 2-of-2 shooting from the field, finishing with 6 points. His big number, though, was 40.

March tests teams’ depth. Zeigler was determined to get Tennessee to the Sweet 16, playing all 40 minutes against Texas.

“There was one point I think it was second half and I was on the bench, and Coach (Rick Barnes) said, ‘you good?’ Zakai looked at him kind of crazy like, ‘of course I’m good. Why would you even ask me something like that?’ Josiah-Jordan James recalled in an amusing postgame anecdote.

“He’s just a superhero” James continued. “We wouldn’t be in this position without his leadership, his aggressiveness. He’s the engine that ignites us. We thrive off of him. For him to play 40 minutes in a situation like this, I don’t think he’d want to have it any other way. That’s just a testament to how tough he is.”

Barnes was asked about the story, saying that how much Zeigler plays comes down to trust.

“I will tell you this, the most — and the coaches will learn to say it to me a certain way. They’ll say to me, ‘hey, Coach, it’s 12:15 on the clock, 16 or whatever, do you think we should get Zakai out?’ And my answer is, ‘I’ll ask him. I’ll look at him.’

“He’s an iron man. He never takes himself out in practice. Believe me, we practice hard. I asked him, I said, ‘you good? You good?’ And I trust him.”

For Barnes and his team that leads to contributions that don’t show up in the traditional box score.

“Even though he had a tough night shooting the ball, it’s just the little things that he does out there,” Barnes continued on Zeigler. “The one stat that was probably good for us, I think their guards turned it over 10 times, and we got 10 extra shots. And the points off the turnovers was really probably the difference in the game really.

“But his pressure defensively — but to answer that question, he was tired because they had a rim shot on that last possession down there, and he was the guy that didn’t block out. And he knows I’m going to get him for it because we kept talking about we can’t ever leave this tournament with somebody not blocking out. We were fortunate they missed that follow-up there at the end.”

Tennessee gets some much-needed rest before the Sweet 16. A re-charged Zeigler will be ready to give it his all again.

Tennessee sports betting is live! SDS has fans covered with the best promos and sign-up bonuses to bet on March Madness and more!