Analyzing Arkansas' 70-60 win over Georgia

Arkansas guard Mason Jones (13) passes the ball as he is guarded by Georgia forward Nicolas Claxton during a game Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019, in Fayetteville.

Mason Jones carries offensive load

FAYETTEVILLE — In the first half of Arkansas' win over Georgia on Tuesday, sophomore guard Mason Jones was about the only Razorbacks player with a pulse on the offensive end of the floor.

Jones led Arkansas in scoring for the seventh time this season, pouring in a game-high 23 points on a fairly efficient 8-of-14 from the floor. He was just 2-for-7 from 3-point range in the win, making him 6-for-21 from deep over the Razorbacks' last three games, but he was aggressive - as he often has been this month - attacking the rim. He got 6-of-7 shots to drop inside the arc.

One of his two biggest shots of the night was a long 2, which first-year Georgia coach Tom Crean mentioned with great memory in his postgame press conference. The Bulldogs failed to communicate on a Gafford ballscreen and Jones patiently and smoothly stepped into a jumper just inside the 3-point line. The shot came just moments after it appeared as if Jones was hit on the top of the head while battling for a rebound under the Georgia basket.

Before inbounding the ball on Arkansas' next possession, Jones rubbed his head numerous times and had to take a few steps away from the floor before gathering himself and drilling the shot. Crean added that Jones did an exceptional job getting to his spots using his right hand - as he did on the long 2 - and called Jones "a very, very good scorer."

"He was really good," Crean said. "We put a lot of emphasis on (Isaiah) Joe and Jones and we didn’t do a very good job on 13."

I've written in the past that Jones is arguably Arkansas' most hit-or-miss starting guard when it comes to scoring the ball and consistency with his shot. Twice this season Jones has followed a pair of games in which he failed to reach double figures with above average scoring nights. Jones is averaging 17 points per game since contributing just 11 against Missouri and Ole Miss.

And, after scoring a combined 11 points against Austin Peay and Texas A&M, he averaged 23.3 points against Florida, LSU and Tennessee. There's more. Jones scored a then-career low four points against UT-Arlington on Nov. 23 but followed it with three consecutive games with 15-plus points.

"He started attacking the basket, curling and getting in the lane and getting to the free throw line," Mike Anderson said. "I thought Mason was big tonight. I thought he really stepped up and played well for us. He got six rebounds and had four assists and, the thing I’m real proud of, he didn’t turn it over."

Jones was also hero of the night in the eyes of Arkansas students, who receive a buy one, get one free deal at Raising Canes whenever the Razorbacks score 70 points at home. With less than 30 seconds to go and Arkansas up 69-60, Jones went to the line for two shots.

He missed the first, drawing a gasp from the student section opposite the Razorbacks' bench. He then hit the second, and the section celebrated.

“I didn’t even know why everybody was so quiet,” Jones said. “Then I knew at the end of the game why everybody was clapping for me. I got them free chicken. Getting back on that play, I shouldn’t have missed that first free throw because I take free throws real serious. I don’t harp on that, just know I have to get back in the gym on it.

"I’m glad I can give them people free chicken.”

Gafford, Chaney throw a block party

Never before in an SEC game has Arkansas blocked as many shots as it did on Tuesday against the Bulldogs. Reggie Chaney finished with a career-high five and Daniel Gafford added four to go with 11 points and four rebounds. Gafford's four blocks ties a season-high and is his most in a game since Dec. 28 against Austin Peay.

The Razorbacks, led by Gafford and Chaney, turned away 14 Georgia shots in the win. Arkansas' previous SEC record was 12 vs. Texas A&M in 2015 and Georgia in 2011. The 14 blocks are tied for the fourth most in school history and the most since a 70-59 win over Stephen F. Austin during the 2006-07 season (14).

Steven Hill led the Razorbacks with seven blocks in that game and Darian Townes added three. There's a blast from the past.

Chaney said postgame he was a bit surprised the Razorbacks blocked so many shots Tuesday. To put it in perspective, Arkansas had blocked 17 shots in its first six conference games. The team's previous high this season was 11 against a much-smaller FIU team, and it hadn't blocked more than five shots in a game since the loss to Georgia Tech in mid-December.

Chaney added that blocking shots is all about timing, and it's something I've noticed that he is ahead of the curve on early in his career. Tuesday, he doubled his blocked shots total in conference play.

“I didn’t even know that to be honest,” Jones said of the blocked shots record. “I just kept seeing people’s shots get blocked and I was like, 'Just keep on doing what you're doing.' It was good to see Daniel and Reggie was blocking a lot of shots."

But Chaney and Gafford weren't the only players to get in on the block party. Jalen Harris had a pair of blocks, too, and became the first Arkansas guard with two rejections since Jaylen Barford finished with a pair against Tennessee last March. Gabe Osabuohien had a season-high two blocks as well, and Jones added one.

Pair 14 blocked shots with 16 Georgia turnovers and Arkansas turned in another solid defensive effort when it needed one.

4s combine for productive night

Lack of production at the 4 spot has been a talking point about as long as Mike Anderson has coached at Arkansas. The Razorbacks have ranked near the bottom in the country in points produced from that position for the last several years, according to KenPom analytics.

Tuesday, that group was a plus. Adrio Bailey, Chaney and Osabuohien combined for 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting to go with 11 rebounds and only one turnover. Chaney was a team-best plus-14 when on the floor, and Osabuohien was plus-8.

Bailey, despite scoring at least eight points in back-to-back games for the first time since FIU and Colorado State, was minus-10 when in the lineup. He did, though, hit 4-of-7 shots and was struck with another bout of bad luck when a dunk in transition went essentially all the way through the net but ricocheted out.

"The beauty of it is that these other guys are starting to step up," Anderson said. "You look at (what) I call the quick forward position, we got of things from those guys tonight when you talk about Reggie and Gabe and Adrio. I thought Adrio played well. He was just snake-bitten on that (dunk).

"But if you look at what those guys bought to the table ... that’s big. When they play well our team plays well."

Hogs making slow starts a habit

Mike Anderson said Arkansas came out slow against Georgia on Tuesday, which led to the Bulldogs taking an 11-2 just 4 minutes, 29 seconds into the game. The same could be said for the Razorbacks' last five games.

Here's a rundown of the less-than-ideal starts to games of late:

– Tennessee: Trailing 23-6 after eight minutes

– Ole Miss: Trailing 11-2 after five minutes

– Missouri: Trailing 17-4 after 10 minutes

– Texas Tech: Trailing 17-9 after 6 minutes, 27 seconds

– Georgia: Trailing 11-2 after 4 minutes, 29 seconds

Anderson added that playing three games in the span of a week is tough on a young team, especially when taking into account that Arkansas played just 12 games in 62 days to begin the season, according to Director of Basketball Operations Matt Zimmerman.

"We didn’t get off to a good start," Anderson said. "I just really feel like our guys were a little fatigued to start it off. ... Not only that, that was an emotional game for those guys at Texas Tech. You think about it, they were right there. They were really disappointed.

"But to me, for them to bounce back in this game in the SEC, knowing that Georgia just came off a big win in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, I was really proud of our guys. I really was."