The West Coast trip the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff embarked on to start the men’s basketball season continues as the Golden Lions look to bounce back.
UAPB will play Portland on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore. The Golden Lions will then go to Los Angeles on Saturday to play Loyola Marymount at 8 p.m. at Gersten Pavilion. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
UAPB (0-1) dropped its season opener at Washington 94-50 on Monday. After falling short against a Big Ten team, the Golden Lions will try their luck against a pair of West Coast Conference opponents.
UAPB shot 51.9% from the field in its exhibition victory against Little Rock, but the Huskies held UAPB to 25.4%. The Golden Lions matched the eight made 3-pointers they had against the Trojans.
Their next opponent, Portland (1-0), opened the season against a Division III foe. The Pilots defeated Willamette 120-83 on Monday after letting Willamette shoot 36% with 13 made 3-pointers. UAPB should be able to get into a better rhythm against Portland than it did against Washington.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Junior forward Cameron Williams led the Pilots with 25 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore guard Mikah Ballew added 20 points. As a team, Portland shot 57.6% against Willamette and could test the Golden Lions’ defense.
Loyola Marymount (1-0) opened the season on Monday with a 137-54 win against non-NCAA foe Lincoln (Calif.). LMU hosted Eastern Washington after press time Wednesday night.
LMU had seven players score in double digits against Lincoln, led by junior forward Aaron McBride’s 20 points. He played a team-high 28 minutes as 13 players got playing time. The Lions shot 70.3% from the field and made nine 3-pointers.
Last month, LMU hosted Southern California for an exhibition, falling 60-51. Junior guard Rodney Brown led the Lions that day with 16 points off the bench.
UAPB is looking for its first win in the Pacific Time Zone since defeating California Baptist 115-107 in overtime in Riverside, Calif., on Nov. 23, 2018.
The Golden Lions are 0-11 since. After this weekend, UAPB will play the remainder of its schedule in the Central and Easterntime zones.