'They said that?' Jahmai Mashack gets last laugh after making winning plays to beat Alabama

Jahmai Mashack had jokes Saturday night. 

All that talk from Tennessee fans saying the Vols are better when he’s off the floor? The analytics that say the offense is much more productive and efficient when Mashack and his defensive mindset are on the bench?

What talk?

“They said that?” Mashack said with a smile.

Mashack could joke because he had earned the last laugh, after his 35-foot shot as time expired stunned No. 6 Alabama, giving No. 5 Tennessee a 79-76 win in a thriller at Food City Center.

“No, I’m playing,” Mashack continued, “of course I hear everything. I’m still a guy that goes on social media sometimes.”

But it wasn’t just the last shot, the one that went viral in an instant on social media. It was Mashack beating Alabama to the offensive glass after a missed foul shot and drawing a foul. It was Mashack forcing a tie-up with 3.8 seconds left.

“Those extra possessions,” Mashack said, “are plays that I always make.”

‘It’s something that goes beyond analytics, something that goes beyond the stat sheet’

Tennessee was down four when Chaz Lanier scored and drew a foul with 30.3 seconds left. After he missed the foul shot, Mashack beat Alabama’s Jarin Stevenson to the rim and Stevenson was called for a shove to Mashack’s back. 

With the Vols in the double bonus, Mashack made both free throws to tie the game on the four-point possession.

On the other end, Mashack tied up Alabama guard LaBaron Philon in the closing seconds — Mashack sat on the floor and flexed after getting the whistle — then helped Tennessee’s defense force a five-second call on the inbound that followed. 

The plays Mashack made before his miracle shot are the plays that don’t show up in offensive efficiency numbers. 

“The main thing for me,” Mashack said, “is I really want to put everything I can into impressing and trying to win over and trying to make Tennessee fans happy. And I know the majority of them appreciate what I do and appreciate how hard I play. 

“And it’s something, that I feel like I’ve said this a lot, other people say it’s something that goes beyond analytics, something that goes beyond the stat sheet.”

Tennessee assistant coach Rod Clark said it himself on Monday. Any talk that the Vols are at their best without Mashack is flat-out wrong. 

“I see some of the stuff on social media where guys (are saying) our best lineups are this,” Clark said, “and Jahmai Mashack does this offensively and all this other stuff. And I get it, like analytics can say a lot of things.

“But when you’re in the heat of the battle and you’re in these games, to say that we’re better when Jahmai Mashack is not on the floor is kind of — I hate to use this word — stupid. It just kind of is.”

Mashack proved his worth across the board against Alabama. He scored 11 points while adding six rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two steals. He had just one turnover in 34 minutes.

“I think it’s a big thing for guys … to trust their eyes and to not just trust analytics all the time,” Mashack said. “Because you can find whatever stat you want in order to have your opinion on it. And I think that’s the main thing that goes in analytics.”

Jahmai Mashack has been at his best against Alabama

There’s no doubting the stats Mashack has put up or the plays he has made in the last two games against Alabama.

Mashack has scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, recorded six assists and had four steals and three blocks in wins in Tuscaloosa and Knoxville. He shot 6-for-9 from the field and went 3-for-3 at the 3-point line in 61 minutes. 

In the 81-74 win at Alabama last March, he went crashing into the scorers’ table to get Tennessee possession in a game-changing sequence in the second half. He finished with eight points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal and a block in 27 minutes.

Rick Barnes said after Saturday’s win that his assistant coaches asked late in the game if he wanted to go with a bigger lineup and take Mashack off the floor. 

“I said I want Shack on the court,” Barnes said, “I want him out there. Because he’s been through a lot. This time of year, he knows what it’s about.” 

He knows what winning plays are about, if they show up in the box score — or contribute to offensive efficiency — or not.

“They know who I am, they know how hard I play,” Mashack said of his coaches and teammates. “They know what I do to create other possessions, to create shots for others, create shots for myself. 

“I’ve always thought of myself as a culture changer and a culture enhancer.

Saturday night he was a game changer. 

“Ever since I came here I feel like I’ve enhanced the culture and just (made it) something even better,” Mashack said. “… I want to be able to continue to do the rest of my career.”