KNOXVILLE — Jahmai Mashack provided quite the successful conclusion to Jahmai Mashack Appreciation Week.
Five days before his 32-foot shot propelled No. 5 Tennessee to Saturday’s 79-76 triumph over No. 6 Alabama as time expired inside a frenzied Food City Center, Mashack found himself as a topic of conversation. The 6-foot-4, 202-pound senior guard from Fontana, California, had provided a couple of key tip-ins in last weekend’s 77-69 win at Texas A&M, and Volunteers assistant coach Rod Clark used those plays as a talking point during a Monday gathering with the media.
“I see some of the stuff on social media talking about our best lineups or what Jahmai Mashack does offensively,” Clark said. “Analytics can say a lot of things, but when you’re in the heat of the battle, to say that we’re better when Jahmai Mashack is not on the floor is kind of — and I hate to use this word — stupid. It just is.”
Mashack has started all 29 games for the 24-5 Vols and averages 28.2 minutes per contest, ranking third behind fellow senior guards Zakai Zeigler (34.1) and Chaz Lanier (31.1). He was asked after Saturday’s thriller if he had heard about Clark’s comments.
“Of course. I hear everything,” Mashack said. “I’m still a guy who goes on social media sometimes. The main thing for me is that I want to put everything into impressing and trying to win over and trying to make Tennessee fans happy. I know that a majority of them appreciate what I do and appreciate how hard I play. It’s something that goes beyond analytics. It’s something that goes beyond the stat sheet.
“Getting those extra possessions are plays that I always make, and I think it’s a big thing for guys to trust their eyes and not analytics the whole time, because you can find whatever stat you want to have an opinion about. They know who I am, how hard I play and what I do to create extra possessions and shots for others.”
The most obvious stat is scoring, and Mashack’s 6.0 points per game rank sixth on the team, but his 4.1 rebounds per contest rank third. He also has a whopping 49 steals this season, six back of Zeigler for the team lead.
Mashack’s 37.5% accuracy from 3-point range is higher than the team average of 34.6%, and he’s behind only Lanier’s 40.7% success rate among Tennessee players with multiple attempts from behind the arc.
“Not many people know that Shack put in a ton of work over the summer, and just seeing it all pay off and him making that last shot — it just feels like a weight lifted off his shoulders,” senior guard Jordan Gainey said. “To see him standing there in front of the crowd was just amazing. It was a surreal moment, and to see him enjoying every single moment of it was just amazing.
“It’s every kid’s dream. It’s a rivalry game on a Saturday with Dick Vitale commentating.”
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes, who quickly singled out Mashack after Wednesday’s 65-59 triumph at LSU for his four offensive rebounds, admitted Saturday that he didn’t even see the game-winner because he was trying to call a timeout. That didn’t limit his appreciation for the player who produced it.
“I’m happy for Jahmai,” Barnes said. “He’s just been an incredible everything. He exemplifies everything that you want in a player and a person. He had never been in the position that he was today, but with his basketball IQ, he saw it, he shot it, and I’m glad he did.”
In the stirring final 30 seconds, Mashack grabbed an offensive rebound on a missed free throw and was fouled, made both free throws, forced a tie-up on Alabama’s final possession, and forced a five-second violation as the Crimson Tide tried to get the ball into play.
Oh, and he hit the 32-footer.
Mashack doesn’t seem to resemble someone Barnes wants to take out of the lineup. In fact, he resembles someone his coach wants to use as an example.
“That’s one of the biggest things we’re talking about to the guys who have never been in these kinds of games this time of year,” Barnes said. “I’ve said that it’s not about the Xs and Os as much as it is about toughness and making plays. The fact is, that’s what he does, and that’s how he plays.
“There is no question he has to be out there.”
Odds and ends
ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi on Sunday moved Tennessee up to a projected No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament, bumping Alabama down to the highest 2 seed. … The Vols will play their final true road game when they visit Ole Miss on Wednesday (9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2). … Barnes and Arkansas first-year coach John Calipari have 830 career victories each, the most among active Division I men’s basketball coaches. … Tennessee’s eight wins over teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll have set a single-season program record. … According to Tennessee records, Saturday was the first buzzer-beating victory by the Vols this century in the Food City Center. … Tennessee coaches and players on Saturday presented Vitale a $10,000 check to the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.