FAYETTEVILLE — Common sense says No. 12 Arkansas should roll past Arkansas-Pine Bluff inside Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday in the season-opener, but as Oklahoma proved on Monday, no game or opponent can be taken for granted.
UAPB was picked to finish 11th in the SWAC — Mississippi Valley State, who Arkansas plays on Nov. 20, was the only team picked to finish worse — and is coming off of a 13-19 campaign last season, but guard Jeremiah Wilkinson and the Razorbacks aren’t overlooking the Golden Lions, even with a game against No. 9 Virginia in Washington, D.C., looming on Nov. 8.
“They’re a talented team,” Wilkinson said of UAPB on Monday. “We still have to come out and play. We can’t take any game for granted. We can’t look past any team. In those 40 minutes, we have to beat the team that’s across from us. Our goal is going to be to go 1-0 tomorrow. That’s our goal every game. Whether it’s Pine Bluff or the Golden State Warriors, our goal is to come out and play as hard as we can [and] leave the game feeling great about the way we played, not just with a win or a loss.”
Led by sixth-year head coach Solomon Bozeman, UAPB has 12 transfer players on its roster. Jalen Tatum, a Pine Bluff native who transferred to UAPB from Jackson State and was selected as member of the preseason All-SWAC second team. Tatum averaged 7.7 points per game at JSU last season, though he did not play in the Tigers’ loss to Arkansas last year…