Nate Oats admitted there was no way to replicate it.

The Alabama head coach knew what his team was in for going up against Tennessee's defense and spent days preparing for it. But it wasn't until a little after 2 p.m. ET on Saturday inside Food City Center that his guards were really experiencing it.

They never recovered.

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A complete defensive effort, spearheaded by Jahmai Mashack made for a long, painful afternoon for the most productive offense in college basketball, according to some metrics.

The result was a convincing 91-71 Tennessee victory that was never particularly close outside of the first couple of minutes.

"It’s impossible because you don’t have anybody on your team that plays as hard or is as quick as Zakai Zeigler. So all of a sudden, he’s up in you," Oats said. "You’re not used to it. We tried to tell the guys what it’s going to be like, tried to replicate it. Sometimes you've got to experience it, have it happen...It's the whole team. It’s not just Zeigler. I mean, (Santiago) Vescovi gets into you. He got out and picked us. Mashack's good.

"If you don’t guard, you don’t play for Coach (Rick) Barnes. Period. They got five guys on the floor, they’re going to play hard and guard all the time and that’s why they’re good here."

The tone was set early.

Alabama, which turned the ball over a season-high 22 times, gave it away six times in the first six minutes. And it wasn't all because the Crimson Tide were careless with the ball.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Everything Alabama coach Nate Oats said about Vols following loss

Many of those turnovers were forced. Mark Sears, who entered the game as one of the top scorers in the SEC, committed seven of them and it was no coincidence that he was being guarded by Mashack much of the game.

Sears managed to score 22 points, but was largely ineffective thanks in part to Mashack, who finished with three steals and turned in a plus/minus of 14 in 28 minutes of playing time.

It was a familiar spot for Mashack. Just over a year again he had a similar defensive performance against Brandon Miller, holding Alabama's superstar to 4-of-11 shooting from the field as Tennessee knocked off the then-No. 1 Crimson Tide in Knoxville.

"I put in a lot of preparation behind the scenes, outside of team stuff to get ready for games like this," Mashack said. "Games like these are important to me. Big games where there's a lot of hype and they have the numbers to back them up. (Alabama) is supposed to be the No. 1 offensive team. Stuff like that gets me motivated to want to kind of shut that down and bring our defensive intensity on the court...As long as I'm doing what I need to do, I just move on from there."

“It's a blessing (to have a player like Mashack) because you very seldom have guys that really want to play that hard defensively and they take great pride in it," Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes added.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Key takeaways: Jordan Gainey regains stride, helps Vols down Alabama

Mashack has earned a reputation as one of the best defenders in the league. At times, his defense looks like second nature but it's more than just showing up on a given night and being put on an elite offensive player.

His preparation includes more than looking over past box scores or analytics. It's a tedious process that includes learning every habit on the court of the player he is expected to go up against.

Given Mashack's versatility of guarding every position, his preparation isn't limited to just one player, either.

"It's not just looking at the scouting report and saying, 'OK this guy shoots this percentage,'" Mashack said. "It's really diving in depth who you're going to be guarding. Guys you might not guard and switch on. You know me, I'm switching 1-5, trying to guard everybody. Just knowing what moves they like to get to, what spots they like to get to. How they dribble the ball, what rhythm they like with their dribble. Just the timing of the steals and stuff like that. It's a lot of in depth preparation that I have going into games like that. This is the SEC. You have great offensive players...I think when you dive deep in trying to stop a guy like (Sears), it's a hard thing to do.

"It takes a lot of preparation. You can't just do in and do it. Luckily, I prepare for things like that. I go into games with the upmost confidence in my defense."

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