FAYETTEVILLE — On a Razorback basketball team with nine new players on the roster, sophomore Mason Jones is actually one of the older guys.
Jones (6-5, 207), who played last season at Connors Junior College in Warner, Okla., had a game-high 21 points and 8 rebounds and junior Adrio Bailey a career-high 20 points as Arkansas downed University of California-Davis 81-58 Monday night before 6,373 fans at Bud Walton Arena.
Jones, whose older brother Matt won a national championship while at Duke and is currently in the NBA G-League with the Stockton Kings, had 15 points in the first half of his home college debut.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect,” Jones said. “This was my first actual game in Bud. So just me getting back to Bud, hearing what Adrio and what the team from last year told me and the players returning, I just had to see it for myself.”
Jones was 6-of-10 from the field, 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 5-of-7 from the free throw line while adding two assists, two turnovers and a steal in 31 minutes.
“I feel like my performance was good but there are still things I can work on to get better. It was a good first game for us,” Jones said.
Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson was obviously pleased with the effort from Jones, who had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 turnovers in Friday night’s 73-71 season-opening and overtime loss to Texas in El Paso.
“One of the things is Mason is capable of scoring, but it’s good to see him get the rebounding,” Anderson said. “I thought he played a good overall game. He cut down on the turnovers that he had the other night. He had four in the last game and it’s something I’ve really been addressing with our guys. We have to clean it up, so I thought he played some quality minutes for us tonight."
Jones averaged 15.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and rebounds and 2.5 assists last season for Connors (31-4), who made it to the Elite Eight of the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.
He hit 72 3-pointers and shot 42.9 percent from behind the arc while playing a level up from the rest of his new teammates.
“It gave him a little more seasoning and I think he played at a higher competition level at Connors over there,” Anderson said. “It gave him a little bit more preparation for this level. He has his moments even in the game against Texas. I think he is finding his niche and finding how he fits in with this basketball team. He has come out each and every game and got us going by knocking shots down.
“The transition for him is probably not as big as it is for the young guys.”
Jones is proud of his effort on the boards on a night when sophomore center Daniel Gafford had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 blocks and 6 turnovers.
“Coach A always tells me that I can bring more to the game,” Jones said. “So I know in junior college, like I started to love the rebounding. I already had the scoring, so I wanted to add something else to my game…I’ve been working on it extremely hard in practice and making sure I help Dan and Adrio go rebound.
“Because I know, me as a guard, being 6-5 with a good frame body, I know I can bang with them too. Just me helping them out is a good thing to add to the team.”
Arkansas will host Indiana (2-0) on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. with the Hoosiers having downed Chicago State (104-55) and Montana State (80-35).
Indiana plays No. 24 Marquette on Wednesday night before heading to Fayetteville.