Tennessee In Elite Company, As Zakai Zeigler Performs His Best Peyton Manning Impression Against Kentucky

INDIANAPOLIS - Tennessee is officially in elite company after demoralizing the heavy Kentucky crowd inside Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday night with a 78-65 victory over the Wildcats. In what many thought would be a tight ballgame inside the home that Peyton Manning built, those folks obviously didn’t get the memo that the ‘Manning Curse’ officially ended in 2022, inside Neyland Stadium. 

No, tonight's matchup between the second-seeded Vols and No. 3 Wildcats never felt close, as Kentucky struggled to give its fans any reason to flex in Indianaspolis. Tonight, Tennessee was on a mission to do everything in its power to control the game around the basket, and out-hustle the Cats. 

Consider it ‘Mission Accomplished’, as the Vols found a way to avoid their third loss of the season to Kentucky, with the final game sending Tennessee into the Elite Eight. Over the previous two games, it was the Kentucky offense that dictated the flow, but tonight inside the home of the Colts, it was the Tennessee offense that called the shots. 

Zakai Ziegler Controls Tennessee Offense Like Peyton Manning

Maybe that was an ode to Peyton Manning, who sat just behind the Vols bench, with megadonor Jimmy Haslam and Larry Pratt. There was a day when Tennessee fans would fall into crumbles if they heard the former quarterback was attending one of their sporting events. But, after the Vols defeated Alabama on a last-second field goal in 2022, it felt as though the curse finally disappeared. 

INDIANAPOLIS - Zakai Zeigler #5 of the Tennessee Volunteers shoots the ball against Koby Brea #4 of the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half in the Midwest Regional Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 28, 2025. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

"The first two times we didn't play Tennessee basketball, and we wanted to show them what that looked like from the start tonight,"Zakai Zeigler said in the post game. 

So, who was running the Tennessee offense against Kentucky? None other than Zakai Zeigler, who twisted his way through the Kentucky defense like he was Peyton Manning carving up a secondary on the football field. IF you haven't noticed by now, Zeigler is the field general, who Rick Barnes has let run everything about this offense. In the same manner that Phillip Fulmer gave Manning full control. 

Peyton Manning enjoys watching Tennessee beat Kentucky Via: Trey Wallace

The young man from New York City has done something that previous Tennessee guards have failed to do, which is lead them to an Elite Eight. The icing on the cake for this Vols team was that it came against Kentucky, in the NCAA Tournament. 

It's fascinating to hear how much control Zakai Ziegler has over the offense. When I asked the point guard what it meant to him for Rick Barnes to have that kind of trust in him, Zeigler pointed out that Barnes has kept his word since recruiting him out of high school. 

"It's amazing having a Coach like this, hall of fame coach giving me the keys and having that much trust in me means the world to me," Zakai Zeigler said postgame. "Back to when I was being recruited by him, and him telling me he's going to give me a fair shot of being on the court, ever since that conversation, Coach Barnes has never lied to me about anything.

"Up to this point, coming in, I was never really a point guard, and for me to be one of the top point guards in the country now and him bringing me into that is amazing. And for him to have that much trust in me, it's amazing. My mom calls me about it all the time and says she's so thankful about it, and I can't even put into words how thankful I am for Coach to have that much trust in me and belief in me that much."

As both teams got heated at the 4:54 mark of the second half, you could see Zeigler come out of the scrum with his hand held high, pointing towards the Tennessee sections. 

Tennessee Was The Better Team In The Most Important Matchup

When it mattered the most, Tennessee found a way to make life miserable for Kentucky's Lamont Butler, along with the rest of the Cats' offense. Leading up to this game, the story centered around if the Cats could do it again, beating Tennessee for a third time this year. 

In the most important game between the two teams this season, it was the Vols' defense that held the Cats down with what felt like a tranquilizer. Nothing worked, as Chaz Lanier extended the Vols' lead in the second half, while Kentucky could only pray that a few shots would start to fall. 

But, unlike previous games, this one wasn't coming down to the finish, with Tennessee leading 74-58 at the 2:20 mark of the second half. There was nothing ‘Big Blue Nation’ could do to help this team get back in the game, because the Vols simply wouldn't let them. 

On the biggest stage, against its biggest opponent in recent memory, it was Tennessee that was proving it belonged. In a stadium that was filled with mostly Kentucky fans, there was nothing to get them excited, which only helped the Vols control the momentum. 

"If you want me to be totally transparent, I have been praying and thanking God for the opportunity to be here because I think all things come from Him and it's a blessing," Rick Barnes said postgame. "We talk about being here at this time, and the number one objective is to bring glory to Him, and that's what I was thinking about, how blessed I am to have the opportunity to stay in this business, and hopefully, by what we do, we bring the glory to him."

For a group that prides itself on being the most rambunctious crowd in college basketball, I could hear a pin drop at times inside Lucas Oil Stadium. But all of that had to do with the Tennessee defense, which was suffocating for the entire night. 

As they walked off the court on Friday night to the cheers of the Tennessee fans who made the trip to Indianapolis, it was clear that the Vols look like a national championship-worthy team. 

Now, they get another chance to prove it on Sunday afternoon for a spot in the Final Four.