Jones shoulders heavy load
FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas guard Mason Jones came into the Walton Arena interview room after Saturday’s game against Mississippi State with an ice pack on his left shoulder.
“My shoulder is in pain right now, but I’m going to be all right and get ready for Florida,” Jones said while looking ahead to the Razorbacks’ opponent
Tuesday night. “Just got to get treatment on it and be a soldier and get ready for the next game.”
As much as Jones’ shoulder was hurting him, it likely was more painful to have to talk about another close loss in which he almost carried the Razorbacks to victory.
Mississippi State beat Arkansas 78-77 on Abdul Ado’s last-second tip-in basket after Jones scored a game-high 38 points.
Jones hit 9 of 17 shots and 18 of 21 free throws in 35 minutes. He likely would have scored more points, but he was on the bench for five minutes in the first half after drawing his second foul.
“If we don’t have Mason play at this level, this game’s not close,” Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said.
It was the eighth game in which Jones has scored 30 or more points in two seasons at Arkansas, with a high of 41 in a 98-79 victory over Tulsa this season. He opened the season by scoring 32 points in a 91-43 victory over Rice.
In the six SEC games in which Jones has scored 30 or more points, the Razorbacks are 1-5, including losses to Mississippi State and Florida last season when he scored 30 in each. This season, he scored 40 points in a 79-76 overtime loss to Auburn and 34 in a 79-77 loss to South Carolina prior to Saturday’s game.
The Razorbacks’ only victory in an SEC game in which Jones scored 30 or more points came two weeks ago when they won 82-78 at Alabama and he scored 30.
“He’s a great competitor,” Mississippi State forward Reggie Perry said of Jones. “He knows how to play the game.”
Jones bounced back from two subpar games — by the lofty standards he’s set — at Missouri and Tennessee. He scored 17 points against the Tigers and nine against the Vols, but he shot a combined 4 of 24 from the field and had 7 turnovers with 3 assists.
Musselman said that on Thursday — the Razorbacks’ first practice after their 8261 loss at Tennessee — Jones had his best practice of the season.
“I thought he was really focused,” Musselman said of Saturday’s game. “He’s put together some really great basketball games, and then he had two games where maybe he didn’t play as well. But teams are focused on him.
“To have a player play like he did [against Mississippi State] and come up short is tough to swallow.”