'He kicked our butt': How Memphis star David Jones' monster game was viewed by Arkansas

PARADISE ISLAND, The Bahamas − David Jones, having just beaten the buzzer with a 3-pointer, charged into the locker room at halftime of Memphis basketball's 84-79 win over Arkansas on Thursday flashing the "M" with his left hand.

Twenty minutes of game time later, having powered the No. 23 Tigers (5-0) into the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game − where they will face Villanova (5-1) on Friday (2:30 p.m., ESPN) − Jones trotted back into the locker room, flashing the "M" again.

"Tiger (stuff), bruh!" the St. John's transfer proudly exclaimed.

Jones' 36 points, four rebounds, two assists and five steals afforded Memphis a coveted win over an Arkansas team it hasn't seen on the hardwood in nearly 21 years. He became just the second player in Division I over the last 25 years to have 35 or more points and at least five steals in a road or neutral-site victory over an AP Top 25 team. NBA superstar Stephen Curry is the other player to accomplish that feat.

And it might have just formally put Jones on the map in multiple ways. As an early frontrunner for AAC Player of the Year. As a player future Tigers opponents will spend many waking hours agonizing over. And as a player with a potentially bright future as a professional.

At least that's how Arkansas coach Eric Musselman saw it from his spot on the sideline inside Imperial Arena.

“He kicked our butt,” said Musselman. “He made a name for himself tonight, quite frankly. There’s a lot of scouts here and stuff. They’re gonna remember that performance. He played that good. He was that dominant on unbelievable efficiency.”

Jones was 10-of-14 from the field. He made four of his eight 3-point attempts. And he made 12 out of 14 shots from the free-throw line. Musselman, reminiscent of how difficult Jones was to stop once he got rolling downhill against the Razorbacks, kept going.

“I didn’t think he took one bad shot, and he scored 36 points. That’s hard to do,” he added. “To score 36 points and have unbelievable, impeccable shot selection. His efficiency was through the roof.

“Nobody could guard (Jones). Nobody. I mean, he did whatever he wanted. Which is what great players do.”

Jones, whose previous career-high was 33 points he scored against Louisville (Dec. 10, 2021), for all he did right on Thanksgiving Day, wasn't quite as sure about that as Musselman. He said his coach, Penny Hardaway, quibbled slightly with a few of his choices on offense.

But when asked how it was he was able to cook the way he did in front of a national television audience, and against a team that is ranked No. 20 by the Associated Press this week, Jones smiled and stretched his left arm out.

"This man right here," said Jones, patting Hardaway on the shoulder. "He gives us all the confidence in the world to just go out there and play hard,” Jones said. “My mind (is) on defense, every single game. (Hardaway) just talks about defense. (But) I just started making shots, and he told me to keep going.”

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Among the things that staggered Musselman about Jones' performance against his Razorbacks, as well as how he's played in Memphis' first five games, is his improvement at the 3-point line. In 37 games over two seasons at DePaul, the native of the Dominican Republic put up a paltry 27.3% 3-point field goal percentage there. In his only season at St. John's, was only successful beyond the arc 29.4% of the time.

So far with the Tigers, Jones is shooting a blistering 48.4% from 3-point range.

“Credit to Penny. Credit to their coaching staff. Credit to the young man, too,” Musselman said. “I’m sure he’s worked a tremendous amount of time.”

Hardaway confirmed that.

“We have to kick him out of the gym,” he said.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: David Jones' monster game through Arkansas' eyes