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Jahmai Mashack’s winner at the buzzer headlines fantastic Saturday slate of college basketball

In the first college basketball slate of March, the sport continued to deliver as it has done all season long. Being one of four top 25 matchups across the sport, but the only inside the top 10, #5 Tennessee hosting #6 Alabama had everything you could ask for from a game as a neutral fan.

Both teams are still well in the fight to earn a one seed in the NCAA Tournament, but after their duel on the court Saturday, Tennessee has the advantage headed into the home stretch. If I were to seed the top line today, I’d have the Vols edging out Alabama and Florida for the fourth one seed. The action inside Food City Center showed that there’s hardly anything separating these two squads right now, something I would surely attest to.

To open the game, Chaz Lanier was the guy for Tennessee, scoring the Vols’ first seven points, but Mark Sears and Labaron Philon kept Alabama toe-to-toe on the road with the nation’s top ranked defense. Aden Holloway and Grant Nelson took their turns leading the Crimson Tide offense, as Alabama turned a 29-33 deficit into a 42-35 lead just before halftime following another Sears jumper with seven seconds to go in the half. It was just enough time for Tennessee to gain back some momentum before the half, with Volunteers guard Jordan Gainey converting an and-one just ahead of the buzzer.

After Igor Milicic Jr. opened the second half scoring with a three to cut the Vols’ deficit to one, Sears and Holloway answered with big threes in the following minutes to give Alabama a 53-46 lead. The Alabama lead stayed between six and nine points for a good chunk of the second half, until a 10-2 Vols run capped by a Zakai Zeigler three evened the game at 66-66 with 6:49 to go.

The defenses for both teams leveled up until the game’s end after that, as the teams struggled to get anything offensively, tied at 70-70 with just over two minutes to play. Sears, who would finish with 24 points and four three-pointers, then hit his final bucket to give Alabama a 73-70 lead.

Then, Jahmai Mashack decided he was going to be the one who won this game for Tennessee. Drawing a foul with 30 seconds left, Mashack went to the line to sink two free throws, tying the game at 76-76. Alabama had its opportunity to win the game on the road with just a one second difference between shot and game clock, but as Philon twisted in the lane with the clock winding down, Mashack came in as the help defender and earned a jump ball.

It was Alabama possession from the arrow though, and Nate Oats called timeout to draw up a play with 3.6 seconds on the clock. Mashack and Co. shut everything down though, and Philon failed to inbound the ball in time, giving Tennessee the ball with a chance to win it. Rick Barnes had one timeout, and wanted to use it after the Vols advanced the ball up the floor.

When Mashack caught the inbounds pass, he had a very different plan though, promptly crossing halfcourt and firing a 30-footer that rattled in to beat the buzzer and lift Tennessee to a 79-76 win over a top ten team at home. A heartbreaker for Alabama, but a moment of absolute jubilation for the Vols. The buzzer-beater would lift Mashack to double-figures, finishing with 11 points, six rebounds, two assists, three steals, and two blocks, a fantastic all-around performance that was capped in the most exciting way possible. Lanier and Gainey each finished with 18 points while Zeigler added 15 in a well-balanced offensive night from Tennessee.

The Vols finish the regular season with a road trip to Ole Miss and a home game against South Carolina, looking to ride this momentum into the rest of March. Alabama now has to rebound with two tests just as tough, hosting Florida and visiting Auburn to close the regular season. It was evident these were two of the best teams in the country when they went head-to-head this weekend, and I wouldn’t be shocked if we saw them meet again, either in the SEC Tournament or in the NCAA Tournament, before the nets are cut in San Antonio.

Other Things to Note:

• Miles Kelly’s 30 points leads #1 Auburn to 94-78 win at Rupp Arena against #17 Kentucky
• #3 Florida sinks #12 Texas A&M behind 25 points from Will Richard in 89-70 home win
• #7 St. John’s wraps up outright Big East regular season title for first time in 40 years with 71-61 victory over Seton Hall
• #10 Texas Tech picks up another massive road win as Red Raiders down Kansas 78-73 in Allen Fieldhouse
• Stunning comeback lifts Vanderbilt over #14 Missouri in 97-93 overtime thriller