Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers might have just seen Zakai Zeigler’s best game since returning from a torn ACL he suffered last season against Arkansas.

The Vols’ standout point guard has had a slow start this season, but that’s not exactly unexpected. Especially against the schedule the Vols have faced thus far.

Zeigler started the year on the bench, earning less than 20 minutes per game, but has slowly seen an uptick in minutes as he re-familiarizes himself with the smaller details of the college game.

When asked about Zeigler’s start to the season after returning from injury, here’s what HC Barnes had to say:

Zeigler finished Tuesday night’s win over George Mason with 6 points, 6 assists, 2 steals and just 1 turnover in 28 minutes. It may not sound like much on a box score, but it’s the first time this season Zeigler looked like the guy that was leading the Vols last year and the year before that. The 5-9 PG has 13 assists in his last 2 games, the same amount he had in the previous 5 games combined.

Tennessee’s offense looked as good as it had all season against a solid mid-major program. The Patriots were 7-1 entering Tuesday night’s matchup against the Vols.

Tennessee faces off against Illinois in Knoxville this Saturday at Noon on CBS.