Jahmai Mashack's heartfelt message to Tennessee fans after loss to Houston might have shed some light on reason for historic struggle
Sometimes in sports, you can try too hard. Press too hard, and the results suffer. That appeared to have been the case on Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis for the Tennessee Vols basketball team. The Vols had one of the worst offensive showings in NCAA tournament history during a 69-50 Elite Eight loss to the top-seed […]
Sometimes in sports, you can try too hard. Press too hard, and the results suffer.
That appeared to have been the case on Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis for the Tennessee Vols basketball team. The Vols had one of the worst offensive showings in NCAA tournament history during a 69-50 Elite Eight loss to the top-seed Houston Cougars that left them watching another team celebrate reaching a Final Four right in front of them for the second straight year.
After the game, Vols senior guards Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler were visibly emotional, with Mashack explaining the reason he was the most upset: not reaching the Final Four for Rick Barnes and the Tennessee fans.
"I just care about shining a light on this guy right here (Barnes). Shining a light on these two right here (Zeigler and Jordan Gainey) because I've seen them put in so much work. I've seen Coach Barnes be the most consistent person every time, even though we get into it. Even though it seems like we don't want to talk to each other anymore, but we get right back to practice, we get right back to coaching. He loves to coach me, he loves how much I put in this game.
"But I wanted to get there for him. I really wanted people to realize how good of a coach he is. Sometimes communication can be off. Sometimes between him and the players, that happens, but man, I wanted to get there for him. I wanted to get there for Vol fans, man. I wanted them to have something they could be proud of."
Mashack was hardly the one to blame for the Vols historically poor offensive performance on Sunday afternoon – the Vols had the lowest first half point total in an Elite Eight game since seeding began in 1979. Neither of Tennessee's star guards in Chaz Lanier and Zeigler had any kind of answer on the offensive side of the ball, shooting a combined 5-27 from the field and 3-18 from beyond the arc. Some shots weren't even close to going down.
It looked and felt like Tennessee was in their own heads from the start of the game. Like they weren't in a great place mentally when the ball was in their hands. Yes, Houston was terrific on the defensive end of the floor, but even open looks weren't going down, and that's a between-the-ears thing.
CBS Sports' college basketball analyst Wally Szczerbiak said something after the game that tied into what Mashack was saying. He felt like the Vols were putting too much pressure on themselves in order to get Barnes back to the Final Four, where he took the Texas Longhorns in 2003.
In a city known for speed, the Vols looked like a team that was stuck in first gear and had no answers on how to get out of it. And it's unfortunate, because any kind of even mediocre offensive performance could have been enough to give the Vols a legit shot down the stretch.
But unfortunately, the Vols couldn't even muster that in one of the most crucial games in program history. Even as badly as they wanted it for their coach and their fans.
Rick Barnes makes strong statement about the future of Tennessee basketball after Vols’ loss to Houston in the Elite Eight
Brutal loss for the Volunteers
