Arkansas basketball produced another blowout in The Bahamas, beating Carleton University of Canada 98-58 on Saturday. John Calipari does not emphasize the transfer portal, but he did make a few pickups in the offseason. Wilkinson was arguably the most important. He showed why on Saturday, as Sports Illustrated noted:
“Jeremiah Wilkinson returned to the floor looking every bit like Arkansas’ veteran scorer it signed out of the transfer portal, pouring in 26 points, four rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes of action. He was an efficient 7-of-12 from the floor, 5-of-9 from three and a 7-of-9 mark at the free throw line.
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“I feel great,” Wilkinson said. “We just won a game in the Bahamas and I love playing with this team. I have no complaints. I got to fight with them and it was exciting. I can’t ask for more.”
“The Razorbacks continue to take care of business in the Bahamas this weekend with a 98-58 victory over Carleton University, the defending national champions in Canada. Wilkinson is considered the least appreciated transfer in all of college basketball, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. The Georgia transfer has never lacked for confidence and has built a strong offensive brand of basketball on his own.
“In my head, I’m gonna go play basketball,” Wilkinson said after the game. “However the media, the fans, and everybody wants to take it, that’s how they’re going to take it. I can’t control that if they want to not respect what I do, if they want to praise what I do. That’s not really up to me. My job is to go play basketball, play with these guys. Just knowing that we have a great team, and there’ great guys around me. So, it’s not like I’ve gotta go out there and try to be a superhero and try to do this [on my own]. I just get to play my game and have some success.”
The big story of Game 1 on Friday (July 31) was the defense forcing 26 turnovers and scoring 37 points off them. Arkansas showed it can do more than compete on defense; it can create easy baskets in transition, an extra weapon for this team. Game 2 showed that Wilkinson can generate instant offense, which will be a welcome supplement to all the defense being played by the rest of the roster. John Calipari will be able to substitute for offense and defense as needed and get the right lineup combinations for every situation.
Arkansas continues to show this summer that it has a lot of tools in the toolbox to use once the regular season begins.
