Mason Jones scored 20 of his career-high 41 points in the first half and Arkansas used hot shooting from start to finish to fuel a 98-79 home win over Tulsa on Saturday afternoon at Fayetteville, Ark.
Jones, a junior guard, made 12 of 18 shots on the day and hit five threes, including a pull-up three-pointer at the first-half buzzer to give the Razorbacks (9-1) a 50-34 halftime lead. Jones was 1 for 9 from the field in Arkansas' overtime loss at Western Kentucky in its previous game.
Arkansas established a big cushion early, thanks to an 18-1 run. Sophomore guard Isaiah Joe hit three three-pointers during that run, putting the Hogs up 21-5. Joe finished with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including four triples.
Tulsa (8-3) committed five turnovers in that Razorbacks run, contributing to 10 points. The Golden Hurricane settled down after that, committing only eight more turnovers the rest of the way.
A steal and basket by junior guard Darien Jackson got Tulsa within 68-59 with 11:49 left but a layup by Arkansas sophomore forward Reggie Chaney got the margin back to double digits. Shortly after that, Jones went on a personal 10-0 run to put the Razorbacks up 81-61 with 8:07 left.
Two Jones free throws with 3:54 left got him to the 40-point mark, the first time an Arkansas player reached that number since Rotnei Clarke scored a school-record 51 against Alcorn State in November 2009. Jones was 12 of 13 from the foul line, which actually lowered his season free throw rate to 93.5 percent.
Arkansas hit 11 threes and shot 56.7 percent overall, its best percentage under first-year coach Eric Musselman, who won 110 games in four seasons at Nevada before coming to Fayetteville.
Tulsa, which shot 43.8 percent overall but made only 4 of 18 threes, got 19 points from junior guard Elijah Joiner and 18 from senior forward Martins Igbanu.
--Field Level Media
Tulsa | Arkansas | |
Elijah Joiner 19 | Scoring | Mason Jones 41 |
Isaiah Hill 3 | Assists | Mason Jones 4 |
Brandon Rachal 8 | Rebounds | Reggie Chaney 7 |
Elijah Joiner 8 | Free Throws Made | Mason Jones 12 |
Darien Jackson 3 | Steals | Mason Jones 4 |
Brandon Rachal 1 | Blocks | Adrio Bailey 2 |