Fansided

This is March: Wild Tennessee buzzer-beater over Alabama rings in the best time of year

Here's how the SEC men's basketball tournament is shaping up after another huge Saturday.
ByChris Landers|
Tennessee's Jahmai Mashack (15) signals to teammates during a men’s college basketball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Thompson-Boling Arena
Tennessee's Jahmai Mashack (15) signals to teammates during a men’s college basketball game between Tennessee and Alabama at Thompson-Boling Arena | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The calendar turned on Saturday morning, and there was a disturbance in the force, a shiver down the spines of sports fans all around the country. This wasn't just any ordinary Saturday: This was March 1, the official start to the wildest few weeks on the sports calendar. And this year, we didn't even need to wait until the start of Championship Week or the NCAA Tournament for the madness to begin in earnest.

Tennessee and Alabama treated us to arguably the game of the college basketball season in Knoxville on Saturday afternoon, two top-10 teams looking to stake their claim to a double-bye in the SEC Tournament and a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance. It looked like the heroics of Crimson Tide guard Mike Sears might seal a huge road victory. But Tennessee rallied in the final minute to tie the game, and with just 3.4 seconds to go in regulation, Jahmai Mashack won it for the Vols on a 3 from the logo as time expired.

The shot blew the roof off an already electric Thompson-Boling Arena, and sent shockwaves around the SEC.

Tennessee rings in March Madness with buzzer-beater to beat Alabama, boost No. 1 seed chances

Tennessee seemed dead in the water just seconds earlier, when Alabama went to the line up three with 36 seconds remaining. But Labaron Philon split the free throws, and on the other end, disaster struck: Chaz Lanier got an and-one, and although he missed the free throw, Mashack drew a foul while going for the rebound and hit both foul shots to tie the game.

Alabama's final possession of regulation was short-circuited by a five-second violation under Tennessee's basket, setting up Mashack's heroics. And what heroics they were: With the win, the Vols are now 24-5 overall and 11-5 in conference, a half-game behind Florida pending the Gators' showdown with Texas A&M on Saturday night and only one game behind the Tide. Tennessee now has 10 Quad 1 wins, tied with Alabama for second in the country behind only Auburn, and with the head-to-head advantage it's easy to imagine the Vols leapfrogging the Tide for a No. 1 seed come Selection Sunday.

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