Tennessee's Jahmai Mashack knows he's going to star in whatever role he has to play

Friday night, a little less than 24 hours before No. 5 Tennessee was set to open Southeastern Conference play against No. 22 Ole Miss, Rick Barnes had a message for Jahmai Mashack.

“I said, ‘Hey, now we better know what we’re good at,’” Barnes said Saturday night. “‘You better know what your role is on this team.’”

Mashack knew his role in the final minute of the first half. He had open looks twice at the 3-point line. He was able to get both shots off in rhythm. 

They both went in, with the second splashing through the net just after the horn sounded on the first half, giving Tennessee a 40-31 lead going into halftime and kickstarting a second half rout with the Vols on their way to a 90-64 win.

“From our perspective,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said, “really the tell of two halves. I think in the first half we let a 3-point shooter get away from us right there at the buzzer.”

Jahmai Mashack: ‘If it comes to me, I’m shooting it’

Mashack, after finishing with 10 points and four rebounds and four assists in his 23 minutes off the bench, said he knew what he was going to do with the ball before it ever came his way. 

“If it comes to me, I’m shooting it,” the junior wing said. “I’ve worked a lot on my game, especially my shooting. So it’s about time that I have confidence in it.

“I knew the ball was coming to me, so just shoot it. You’re gonna make it. You work on these shots. So I think that’s all that went into that.”

Mashack’s numbers show good reason for that confidence. Through 14 games, he’s shooting 43.8% from the 3-point line, up from 31.4% last season. 

Barnes said Mashack “totally remade his shot.” Mashack himself downplayed the mechanical changes.

“It was just making sure I get under the ball,” he said, “make sure my guide hand is where it is. But it was really just all confidence, just making sure that if you’re a confident shooter and you put in the reps, it’s going come out in the game. 

“And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. And it’s exactly why I’m not surprised that shots are coming in and shots are falling, because that’s what’s supposed to happen when you give to the game, it’s going give back to you.”

Up Next: No. 5 Tennessee at Mississippi State, Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, SEC Network

The shot is “still not there” fully, Barnes said, but Mashack has the green light when he’s open and in rhythm. 

And if shots aren’t falling?

“You don’t have to make a shot,” Barnes said, still sharing his message to Mashack. “You’re an elite defender. If you want to do that, that’s got be your calling card.”

What Mashack knows, and said as much himself, is that he’s going to star in whatever role Tennessee asks him to play. 

“I’m a star in whatever I’m doing and that’s just me,” he said. “That’s the essence of Jahmai Mashack. That’s how I go about things. I want to make sure that that’s a statement that I’ve made throughout this whole time I play basketball. It’s always been that way. 

“So whatever I do to help the team win, if that’s stand in the corner and play defense, that’s what I’m going to do. But if that’s going to the basket and scoring or shooting threes, I’m going to be adaptive for whatever we need. 

“And that’s just my motto, just being a star in my role and that’s what I’m going to do (going) forward. That’s just how I am and how I operate.”