Tennessee basketball was without its star point guard Zakai Zeigler on Saturday.

Despite missing Zeigler and starting forward Igor Milicic Jr., the Vols went on to win 54-44 over Florida in a top-8 clash.

After the game, Rick Barnes met with the media and updated the status of Zeigler.

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"He did get an MRI last night and it showed no structural damage," Barnes said. "Chad (Newman) will tell you. I tell him every day, you don't have to give me a medical report, I don't care. I'm going to coach who is out here. I don't look at it. You come out and tell me something, I'll listen to you. Whoever is out here we're going to try to get ready to play. I know that if Zakai could've gone, he would've. Igor came in here today, he did everything he could to get enough fluid in him. He want to try, but he couldn't. The way we handle it with those guys, once you get into conference play, you're going to have ups and downs. You're going to hit some bumps in the road. You don't know what they are but you expect them. It's how we respond to them. We talked about it last night, this is a chance to respond to a tough situation."

Zeigler hyperextended his right knee with two minutes and 17 seconds remaining in the first half against Kentucky on Tuesday. He did manage to return to the game to play in the second half.

On Friday night's injury report, Zeigler was listed as 'questionable.'

Barnes said that Zeigler did not practice with the team on Thursday. Prior to Friday's practice, he expressed optimism he would be able to play on Saturday.

"He didn’t practice yesterday, but I just walked in the building," Barnes said. "I don’t know. I haven’t heard yet where he is, but my gut feeling is, knowing him, that he’ll be ready to play."

He also was asked if there's any concern about Zeigler not returning to practice.

"No, not at all," Barnes said. "Not one bit."

Zeigler spent the majority of Friday's practice doing individual work on the other end of the floor.

After returning to play the remainder of the Vols' 78-73 loss, Zeigler finished the game with 13 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.

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He previously missed the final stretch of his sophomore season with a torn ACL. However, this previous injury was his left knee.

This season, Zeigler is averaging 12.3 points, 7.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. His defense has provided a career-high 2.1 steals per night, as well.

In his career, Zeigler garnered plenty of hardware. Already this year, he is on The Athletic Midseason All-America Honorable Mention list, Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 Watch List and College Hoops Today Early Season First Team All-America team along with earning an SEC Player of the Week nod.

Heading into the year, Zeigler was on a preseason All-American team according to Blue Ribbon Yearbook and Jay Bilas. He was also a preseason All-SEC member according to the media and coaches.

As a junior, Zeigler was a First-Team All-SEC member that took home SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors.

He owns the most steals in program history, topping former teammate Santiago Vescovi's mark. Be currently sits at 225 in his career.

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