Jahmai Mashack flashes shooting 'confidence' in Vols' win over Ole Miss

Jahmai Mashack stood at the top of the arc.

After Zakai Zeigler went high to grab a ball knocked away from Jonas Aidoo, he dished the ball out to Mashack, who was scoreless with inside of a minute left in the first half.

Mashack gathered in the pass, stepped back and laced a 3-pointer. On Tennessee's next offensive possession, he did it again, this time from the corner as time expired.

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The two shots put the exclamation point on an impressive first half for the No. 5 Vols against No. 22 Ole Miss on Saturday night at Food City Center, one that spilled over into the second en route to a convincing 90-64 SEC-opening victory.

For Mashack, the sequence was more than a boost for Tennessee before halftime. It was the culmination of becoming a more consistent scorer to compliment his defensive game.

"If it comes to me, I'm shooting it," Mashack said. "I've worked a lot on my game, especially my shooting. It's about time that I have confidence in it and putting it into fruition when I get on the floor. I think that's what I happened. I knew the ball was coming to me, so just shoot it. If you don't make it, you work on these shots. I think that's all that went into that."

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Mashack was one of four Tennessee players to finish in double-scoring figures. He totaled 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from 3-point range. He also grabbed three offensive rebounds and tallied four assists in 23 minutes on the floor.

Being more of a factor on the offensive end has been a point of emphasis for Mashack going back to last season when he was thrust into a bigger role as a sophomore because of injuries.

His defense speaks for itself. It was part of the reason why he was in the starting lineup to start the season, but adding to Tennessee's shooting arsenal which already includes Zeigler, Dalton Knecht, Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James and Jordan Gainey off of the bench was a motivator for Mashack.

Fixing his shot, though took more of mental approach.

"It actually wasn't a lot of mechanical changes," Mashack said. "It was just more confidence...If you're a confident shooter and you're getting in the reps, it's going to come out. 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. What you give to the game, it's going to give back to you."

WATCH ON VOLREPORT: Vols HC Rick Barnes recaps win over Ole Miss

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes has had a front row seat to Mashack's development.

On the eve of the Ole Miss game, Barnes singled Mashack out in a team meeting about knowing his identity. Though that has largely been as a defender, he showed what it can be as a scorer off of the bench vs. the Rebels.

"I’ve said many times, and I tell (Mashack) this all the time; I have invested a lot of time in him because I love him to death. He’s totally remade his shot, spent time doing it," Barnes said. "He’s got to continue. He’s still not there with it. But with that said, I’ve also told him, you don’t have to make a shot. You’re an elite defender. If you want to do that, that’s got be your calling card. And I actually said to him last night in front of the team, I said, ‘Now, hey, now we better know what we’re good at. You better know what your role is on this team.’ And he came in and when he’s open and has rhythm, we want him to shoot the ball. And when he plays under control, when he drives the ball, he makes (good decisions)...

"You guys know I’m hard on him because I have high expectations for him. I told him, I don’t want any surprises. I want to know night in and night out exactly what we’re getting. And I thought he played a terrific game tonight.”

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