Arkansas-Pine Bluff can’t quit you, Hawaii.

The Golden Lions are not, in fact, the most recent addition to the Big West Conference. But if it seems like the SWAC team has been here every year for the past handful of years, you’re not far off: Today’s meeting between the Lions and Rainbow Warriors at the Stan Sheriff Center is the fourth in six seasons.

UH (4-1) won the previous three meetings by an average margin of nearly 21 points. UH is shooting for a similar performance coming off an eight-point loss at Texas Tech, the first defeat for the Rainbows under coach Eran Ganot.

While the Rainbows have the luxury of opening a 10-game homestand, for financially challenged Pine Bluff (2-5) it is the eighth of 18 straight games away from home to begin the season. The Lions won at Seattle in their opener and have also played at No. 3 Michigan State (a 46-point loss); lost by 49 at Cincinnati; and lost by 23 at Nebraska.

“They’re not going to come in here scared about playing in a tough environment. They’re used to that,” Ganot said. “They have a chip on their shoulder. They spread you out and they have enough offensive weapons. We’re going to have to be ready to play.”

UH, coming back from Lubbock, Texas, and UAPB actually flew out to the islands at the same time on Sunday. UAPB is coming off a 62-60 win over Southeast Louisiana at West Point. N.Y.

“It’s exciting for the young men to travel, come out here and see Hawaii,” Lions coach George Ivory said. “They’re a great program. We enjoy the crowd.”

On his team’s brutal travel schedule (games at Virginia Tech, Iowa State and Texas Tech are coming), Ivory added: “Overall we’re taking (it as) a chance to get ready for our conference and making money for the whole athletic department, that’s one of the reasons we do it.”

UH had an 11-point lead on the Red Raiders on Saturday but struggled once the Big 12 team went to a zone defense.

Pine Bluff, in Ivory’s estimation, plays “95 percent zone.”

Swingman Aaron Valdes (18.6 ppg, 56.1 percent shooting) had 28 points and nine rebounds in UH’s 85-57 win over Pine Bluff in the 2014-15 season opener. It was a one-point game at halftime as the Lions, who are known to play upwards of 12 players, succeeded in making it a chaotic affair early with their trapping zone and rotating personnel.

“I remember they had a weird zone, kind of, extended out,” Valdes said. “It bothered us a little bit in the first half. It was a close game.”

UH will look to punish Pine Bluff on overplays and look to attack the smaller team inside-out.

“Against Texas Tech, when they did go zone, we didn’t do our best job of attacking it,” said assistant coach Adam Jacobsen, who has the scout duties on the Golden Lions. “We settled for a couple shots in transition, and we didn’t do a great job of player movement in the zone.

“I think this (opponent) is a little bit different for two reasons. You know they’re going to play zone, No. 1, and it’s a different type of zone. This is a really aggressive zone, they’ll jump out and trap and fly in passing lanes. So it’s actually not a packed-in zone; their defensive movement is going to open up drives, passes inside, and we have to be more willing to shot-fake, pass-fake, make the extra pass.”

Pine Bluff boasts a unique offensive threat in 6-foot-9 senior utilityman JoVaughn Love (11.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), who scored 15 here last year. He is known to play all over, from point guard to center.

Ganot has kept the same starting lineup — Roderick Bobbitt, Quincy Smith, Valdes, Mike Thomas and Stefan Jankovic — in each game so far. Thomas (7.6 ppg) missed some practice time Monday with a left knee issue, but was back in action on Tuesday.