Zakai Zeigler gets a special opportunity when Tennessee matches up with St. Peter’s Thursday night.

It will be Zeigler’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in over 2 years after missing last year’s postseason with an injury. However, the bigger story is the fact he will face his brother, Armoni Zeigler, in the Round of 64.

The younger Zeigler is a 6-foot-4 freshman who appeared in 32 games for the Peacocks this season. Armoni averages 6.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists off the bench for St. Peter’s and shoots 35% from deep.

Leading up to the game, Zakai described it as “really cool” for his parents and the family, but he maintains his competitiveness on the court, regardless of who he is lined up against.

“It’s really cool. Not too many times that two brothers face off in a big-time tournament like this,” Zakai admitted. “To clear the air, he’s never beat me one-on-one. He’s not even close in the series at all. And he’s not even close in his scores.

“But it’s really cool, like our parents, they’re just so happy for us. I can’t wait to get out there and just go out there and get the win.”

As for the two brothers and their respective games, Zakai says he does everything better except Armoni is taller:

“I would say just everything he does, I do a little bit better, except for athleticism and height. That’s the only two things that he has better than me, athleticism and height,” Zakai said. “Everything else, I do better times probably about five.”

As for the in-game matchup, Armoni has said he’s likely to be guarding Zakai at times, but the older Zeigler is not worried. Zakai says “it’s ballgame” if Armoni is forced to guard either Zakai or leading scorer Dalton Knecht in Thursday’s matchup.

“On a serious note, like I said before, I’m really competitive. No matter if it’s pickup, one-on-one, just a regular workout, I want to win at everything,” Zakai explained. “So it’s going to be the same competitiveness and the same mindset.

“Once we step between the lines, whether it’s my friend, my brother, whoever it is, whether it’s my dad, it doesn’t matter, I’m trying to go out there and win.”

St. Peter’s was the darling of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, upsetting Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue while rolling to the Elite 8 as a 15-seed. However, Armoni was not a member of the program at that time with this group of Peacocks hoping to write their own March Madness story.

Tennessee heads into Thursday’s game as a 21.5-point favorite over St. Peter’s per ESPN Bet. Fans can track the latest odds and trends for the tournament with SDS’s Tennessee sports betting apps.

Brothers in March Madness

This will actually be the third straight NCAA Tournament with a pair of brothers facing off on opposing teams. In the 2023 tournament, San Diego State’s Adam Seiko and Creighton’s Arthur Kaluma squared off in the Elite 8 with Seiko and the Aztecs advancing to the Final Four.

The two brothers also faced off in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, though that matchup came earlier in the bracket.

While brothers opposing one another is a rarer occasion, there is a longer list of brothers playing alongside each other. During the 2019 postseason, there were multiple sets of brothers in the final field.

Nevada entered the tournament led by twin brothers Caleb and Cody Martin before falling to Florida in the opening round. KJ and Dedric Lawson also played for Kansas in the 2019 NCAA Tournament while Sam and Joey Hauser teamed up on Marquette.