Senior point guard Zakai Zeigler and senior forward Igor Milicic Jr. returned to Tennessee’s starting lineup Wednesday night.
They weren’t about to ease back into things.
Zeigler and Milicic each scored 21 points as the No. 4 Volunteers rallied from a double-digit deficit, built a double-digit lead and held off No. 15 Missouri 85-81 inside the Food City Center. Wednesday marked Tennessee’s fifth consecutive game against a team ranked inside the top 15 of the Associated Press poll, a program record, with the Vols going 3-2 in those contests.
“I thought Igor was really good tonight, and I thought Zakai was really good for not playing and practicing that much for really the last week,” Tennessee 10th-year coach Rick Barnes said on the Vol Network. “Our post guys did some good things. This was just a really good win, because Missouri is having a phenomenal year.”
Said Zeigler in a news conference: “I was so excited to be back on the court. I couldn’t sleep last night.”