NASSAU, Bahamas — Penny Hardaway couldn’t help himself. And who could blame him?

When asked Thursday night after Memphis’ 84-79 win over No. 20 Arkansas in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinal if David Jones was one of the greatest players to come through the Tigers’ program in recent history, Hardaway didn’t stutter.

Jones’ career night leads Memphis past Arkansas

“I don’t know how many players that have come through (here) that play both sides of the basketball,” said Hardaway, who himself became a Tiger legend as a player in the 1990s. “But he plays both sides and plays them at a high level while he’s out there on the court.

“He’s definitely one of the best players to come through the university, for sure.”

That’s high praise for a player who’s only played five games in a Memphis jersey and just joined the team in June after transferring from St. John’s.

But after what Jones — a 6-foot-6 wing — put on display in the Bahamas’ Imperial Arena, it’s understandable why Hardaway was full of compliments.

Jones chalked up 36 points on 10-14 shooting to go with five steals, four rebounds and two assists in 33 minutes against the rival Razorbacks. That’s a single-game point total that falls just four points shy of cracking the top 10 in Tigers’ history.

Tigers coach Hardaway returns with something to prove in Battle 4 Atlantis

Jeremiah Martin (43, 41 and 37 in February 2019) and Kendric Davis (42 in January 2023) are the only Memphis players to have scored more in a game in the past 15 years than Jones did Thursday. Neither of the two did so with a greater level of efficiency than Jones, who shot 71.4% from the floor versus Arkansas.

After graduating high school early to start his college career in January 2021, Jones had already established himself as a high-level player before joining the Tigers this past offseason. The Dominican Republic native played two seasons at DePaul and one with the Johnnies and averaged 13.2 points and 6.8 rebounds last season.

But what Jones has done through five games with the Tigers is on a different level. He’s averaging 18.8 points and shooting 48.4% from 3 on 6.2 attempts per contest after previously never having shot higher than 29.7% from 3 through a season in his career.

“I was just working on my game and working on my shot,” Jones said of how he spent his offseason, time he split between Santo Domingo and Memphis. “I love being in the gym. That’s like home for me.”

Ashton Hardaway’s breakout game leads Memphis past Michigan

He sure looked comfortable in the ballroom-turned-gym inside Atlantis Paradise Island resorts on Thursday.

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman certainly took notice, too. How could he have not?

The Razorbacks had no answer for Jones, even after it became apparent that the Tigers intended to keep feeding his hot hand.

Jones had 17 points in the first half alone on 6-6 shooting, which included a 23-second span right before halftime where he knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give Memphis a 5-point lead at the break.

“He made a name for himself tonight, quite frankly,” Musselman said. “I mean, he really did. There’s a lot of scouts here. They’re gonna remember that performance. Because he played that good and he was that dominant.”

Of course, it didn’t stop there.

Jones proceeded to tack on 19 more points after halftime and missed just four shots from the floor — all 3-pointers — to help Memphis come out on top.

All of it was so impressive that Musselman spent more of his seven-minute postgame press conference marveling at what he’d just witnessed from an opposing player than he did discussing any of his own.

“I didn’t think he took one bad shot, and he scored 36 points,” Musselman said. “That’s hard to do — score 36 and have unbelievable, impeccable shot selection. He had better shot selection than almost every guy on my team. He kicked our butt.”

What Hardaway and Musselman said about Memphis-Arkansas rivalry

The game Jones had was the biggest reason why the Tigers picked up their most impressive win so far this season, why they were able to make a statement in front of a national audience on Thanksgiving Day and why they’re now headed to the Battle 4 Atlantis’ championship game to square off against Villanova on Friday.

So, sure, it’s still early. There are still 26 matchups left in the regular season alone, after all.

But after what Jones did Thursday, it’d be tough to fault Hardaway for his enthusiasm.

“We have to kick him out of the gym,” Hardaway said. “We have to make him get rest because he’s always in the gym. He always wants to work. And his hard work is paying off.”