UC Riverside 65, UC Irvine 56 Box Score
Irvine–Dwight Gordon scored a career-high 19 points, and the Highlanders put together a 9-1 run late in the game to snap their five-game losing streak with a 65-56 road win over UC Irvine Saturday evening, The win improved UCR's record to 8-11 overall and 2-5 in the Big West. The Anteaters fall to 9-11, 3-5 in conference.
UC Irvine took a 27-24 lead into the locker room, and through the first 15 minutes of play in the second, neither team led by more than three points. With 7:04 to go in the game, it was the Anteaters who owned that three-point advantage, 51-48. The Highlanders scored nine of the next 10 points, however, to take their largest lead of the ballgame at 57-52.
UC Irvine whittled the lead back down to, 57-56, but Kyle Austin nailed a jumper in the lane and Gordon, Lateef McMullan and Brandon Dowdy each nailed a pair of free throws to seal the win.
Neither team was able to generate much offense in the early going as the Anteaters had a 9-6 advantage as the clock round down to the 10 minute mark. UC Irvine missed nine of its first 13 shots and the Highlanders misfired on seven of 10.
UC Irvine logged the biggest lead of the period with six and took a three-point advantage into the locker room. Gordon was the leading scorer for the Highlanders in the first half accounting for a career-high 13 points in 15 minutes of action.
UC Riverside scored 10 of the first 14 points in the second half to take a three-point lead, 34-31, but neither team could put a run together to shake the other. Kyle Austin took over the offensive mantle from Gordon in the second as he scored 11 of the Highlanders first 17 of the half, finishing with 18 on the night.
The Highlanders return home to the friendly confines of the Student Recreation Center for the next three games beginning with a Thursday, January 28 meeting with UC Davis. Tip time is scheduled for 7 pm PT.