FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas guard Mason Jones has been named SEC Player of the Week, the league announced Monday.
In Arkansas' 98-79 win against Tulsa, the junior guard poured in a career-high 41 points on 12 of 18 from the floor, 5 of 11 from 3-point range and 12 of 13 at the free throw line. He also finished with six rebounds, one shy of the team lead, four assists and four steals.
Jones' 41 points are the second most by a Razorback in Bud Walton Arena.
"I needed it bad because I'm a hard player on myself," Jones said following the game. "I don't like to let people down, and I feel like I let myself and let a lot of people down in the Western Kentucky game, so that's never the goal. But I'm human and all I can do is just bounce back."
It is the second player of the week award of the season for Jones, who also earned the honor on Nov. 11 after scoring a then-career high 32 points in Arkansas' season-opening win over Rice.
Saturday marked the third time in Jones' career that he followed a single-digit scoring game with 30-plus points. He is currently third in the SEC in scoring at 19.6 points per game, trailing only Vanderbilt guard Aaron Nesmith and Georgia star freshman Anthony Edwards.
Jones, who is tied for the league lead with 20 steals, is shooting 32 percent from 3-point range and 93.5 percent at the line through 10 games.
“What I saw from him is that the ball went through the hoop and (at Western Kentucky) it didn’t,” Tulsa coach Frank Haith said. “He made some tough shots, but he got it going, and once he got his rhythm he was a terrific player and shot it extremely well.”