FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas junior Mason Jones is already the second leading scorer for the Razorbacks with 18.3 points per game but new head coach Eric Musselman thinks he can get even more out of the former junior college athlete.

The trimmed-down Texas native played 29 or more minutes in each of the Hogs' first three games but on Tuesday night against Texas Southern, Musselman benched Jones with 13:40 left to play and didn't sub him back in. Jones only scored six points (two off of free throws) and had four turnovers, a season-high, with just two rebounds.

The head hog diagnosed what he thought the issue was with Jones' uncharacteristic performance for the media on Thursday:

"I felt like he needed to be more focused on both ends of the floor," Musselman said. "And the team's playing well. When you're playing well, you sometimes roll with those guys, well not sometimes, I'm always going to roll with whoever's playing well."

While Jones and Musselman were seen having a heated moment when the junior was pulled out of the game, Jones said just three days earlier that his head coach getting in his face is nothing new–and he appreciates it.

"It’s amazing to see the same thing he does in practice, he does in front of a lot of people (at the game)," Jones said after the win over Montana. 'It’s not like he’s being two-faced or he’s changing. He does the same thing when people don’t see it and he does the same thing when people see it."

Musselman had a conversation with Jones after practice Wednesday about the lesson he wants him to glean from what happened on Tuesday night.

"Now that he's four games into his junior year, we need leadership from him, not just a good player," Musselman said. "He's a good player and we all know that. I think the next step in his progress is to become a leader."

Jones will get another chance to show his leadership on Friday night in Bud Walton against the Hogs' best opponent yet in South Dakota.

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