Golden Lions face tough road tests
After a tough start to conference play, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men’s basketball team hits the road to face the preseason SWAC championship favorites.
The Golden Lions will face Texas Southern at 5 p.m. Saturday and Prairie View A&M at 5:30 p.m. Monday in its first two SWAC road games this season.
Senior guard Kylen Milton said UAPB continued focusing on defense this week in practice.
“Executing, rebounding, that’s a big part of our game where we try to get better at,” Milton said. “We’re one of the worst teams in the country in letting teams score in the paint. We’re focusing on being in our gaps, packing in on defense.”
UAPB (5-10, 0-2 SWAC) was competitive in both of last weekend’s home games but fell short. Now, the Lions face a pair of tough road tests.
The Golden Lions proved earlier this season they can win on the road when they knocked off Central Arkansas 85-83 in Conway on Nov. 13. Last year, UAPB started SWAC play 0-2 but rebounded with five straight wins, which started with wins against TSU and Prairie View.
Coach Solomon Bozeman said those experiences prove UAPB has the potential to handle this weekend’s challenges.
“This team has done it before,” Bozeman said. “This team is confident in their abilities. They’re confident in what they do. We just have to stay positive with them, but at the same time, continue to hold them accountable and get better each and every day.”
Up first is preseason favorite Texas Southern (3-10, 1-1), which dropped its SWAC opener to
Southern 58-51 on the road but pulled out a tough road win two days later at Grambling State, 54-52.
Preseason SWAC player of the year P.J. Henry, a senior guard, leads the Tigers with 13.5 points per game, although he missed TSU’s last game against Grambling after scoring 9 points with four rebounds and three assists against Southern.
Bozeman said Henry is a talented scorer.
“We just gotta get physical with him, always contest shots, because he can really shoot the basketball,” Bozeman said. “He’s a three-level scorer. The main thing with somebody that can score like that, you just want to get physical with him. Make sure he’s always seeing hands, always seeing bodies.”
In Henry’s absence, sophomore Zaire Hayes made his first start and scored a career-high 16 points with eight rebounds to lead TSU past Grambling.
Prairie View (5-10, 0-2) will look to pick up its first SWAC win against Mississippi Valley State on Saturday prior to hosting UAPB on Monday. The Panthers were competitive in a 6963 loss at Grambling, but couldn’t keep up with Southern in a 79-58 loss.
Still, the Panthers had a nice showing in nonconference, picking up three wins against Division I competition. Bozeman said Prairie View plays hard.
“They’re really that way every year, but this year, they’re really a tough team and physical,” Bozeman said. “They play hard. They give Coach [Byron Smith] everything that they have, so we just gotta go in and make sure we’re the most physical team against that Prairie View team.”