Jahmai Mashack played hero for Tennessee basketball on Saturday afternoon, hitting the 35-foot jumper that lifted the fifth-ranked Vols past sixth-ranked Alabama 79-76.
But Mashack had come up huge for Tennessee countless times before the 41st made three-pointer of his career went done. All you have to do is look at the moments right before.
Mashack did a phenomenal job denying Alabama star Mark Sears the ball, helping lead to the five-second violation on the base line out of bounds play with 3.8 seconds to play. Moments before that, Mashack tied up Alabama’s Labaron Philon on a drive to the basket.
Perhaps the senior guard’s biggest play of the game came with 30 seconds left when he grabbed an offensive rebound on a Chaz Lanier missed free throw before drawing a foul. Mashack drilled the two free throws to tie the game as Tennessee turned a four-point deficit into a tie game.
Th 6-foot-4 guard grabbing an offensive rebound at the rim over Alabama’s big men is the perfect encapsulation of what makes Mashack so valuable.
“To be frank, coaches were asking if I want to go big (on the free throw),” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “I said I want Shack on the court and I want him out there. Because he’s been through a lot. This time of year, he knows what it’s about. Big play at the free-throw line to make those free throws.”
It wasn’t the only possession that Mashack stole for Tennessee against Alabama. He blocked two shots and recorded three steals against the Crimson Tide.
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Mashack’s ability to make defensive plays and steal possessions for Tennessee is perhaps his greatest strength. And his ability to stay out of foul trouble in a foul trouble infested first half allowed him to play more aggressive in the second half. Mashack recorded four of his five steals and blocks in the game’s final 20 minutes.
“They know who I am, they know how hard I play,” Mashack said. “They know what I do to create other possessions, to create shots for others, create shots for myself.”
One of those aggressive and game changing stolen possessions came with Tennessee trailing by eight points midway through the second half. Jordan Gainey deflected a pass and Mashack outran Alabama’s Mouhamed Diouate to the loose ball and earned three points the old fashioned way in transition.
Before Mashack’s game changing plays in the second half, the senior guard was the glue for Tennessee in the first half. With Tennessee players in the backcourt and front court battling foul trouble, Mashack played the game’s first 15 minutes and 17 of the game’s first 20 minutes.
Mashack didn’t do anything special in that stretch but he was solid for Tennessee and made a real impact on the glass while dishing out two assists while Zakai Zeigler was on the bench with two fould.
The special plays would come later for Mashack and he finished his night making one of the more memorable shots in Tennessee basketball history. But it was the steady play that he brings nearly every night that proved just as important.
