CHARLOTTE, N.C — It’s what Tennessee shooting guard Jahmai Mashack dreams of. Vols point guard Zakai Zeigler loves it. It’s competition at its highest form.
Tennessee is readying for a collision against Texas in a critical Round of 32 NCAA Tournament matchup on Saturday night. It’s a contest that pits two vaunted backcourts against one another with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
“I love playing against the big name players, the players that everybody loves, everybody thinks are amazing because it gives me that edge and competitive fire to go and stop that,” Mashack said. “Being the guy that’s known to stop players like that it just makes me want to build off that and keep that rhythm going. It’s going to be exciting.”
Max Abmas and Tyrese Hunter are a two-headed monster in the back court for Texas. Both are 6-foot point guards that are dangerous scorers with different games.
Tennessee knows Hunter well. They finished runner up for the former Iowa State transfer when he entered the portal following the 2022 season. The Vols then faced him in a matchup last season in Knoxville.
Hunter is a true two-way player who will likely spend much of the contest guarding Zeigler. He averages 11 points per game, is tied for a team-high 4.7 assists per game and leads the Longhorns with 1.4 steals per game.
“Really strong, athletic,” Zeigler said of Hunter. “Just staying in front of him and trying to not let him get as much downhill as he wants to is going to be a challenge.”
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“He likes to get downhill,” Mashack added. “He wants to come off the pick-and-roll and get to the basket. He wants to shoot the ball. He’s a really good complete player and obviously he has a lot of confidence in himself. We got to make sure we limit his transition buckets. We got to make sure we limit his rhythm that he has in the game and really come out and disturb him early so he doesn’t build off that.”
Tennessee hasn’t played against Abmas since the combo guard transferred from Oral Roberts to Texas this past offseason. He’s not nearly as strong a defender as Hunter but he’s one of the best offensive guards in the nation.
Abmas made the transition to the Big 12 seamlessly. He averages 17 points on 36% shooting from three-point range while adding 4.2 assists per game.
“It really is difficult because he can shoot the ball from far out and he has a lot of range,” Mashack said at Abmas. “Trying to get him off the three-point line and get him out of rhythm and hopefully make all his shots tough.”
Tennessee has its own firepower in its backcourt. Zeigler has been one of the nation’s best floor generals since getting back to form after the knee injury that ended his sophomore season and cost him his offseason. Dalton Knecht is the most lethal back court scorer in the country though his 6-foot-6 height makes it more likely that Texas will defend him with the bigger Brock Cunningham or Dillon Mitchell.
But the Vols have the perfect pieces to slow down elite offensive backcourts like Texas. They showed it in a pair of wins over Alabama and hope to carry it over to a high stakes NCAA Tournament game.
It’s a challenging matchup that both Mashack and Zeigler relish. Don’t expect them to back down.
“I love competition. I never feel like I’ve ever ducked any smoke or ran from any competition in my life,” Zeigler said. “So night-in and night-out I want to play against top guards and these type of moments, I dream for them and I’m glad God gave me this opportunity.”
