Riverside--Jaylen Bland and Secean Johnson scored 20 points each, as the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team improved to 2-0 for the first time in the Division I history of the program with a 77-63 victory over visiting Santa Clara Thursday evening.

For the second straight game, the Highlanders (2-0) used an offensive surge after intermission to take control of the game. In the season-opener, UC Riverside connected on 63.2 percent of its shots in the second half in outscoring William Jessup by 23 over the final 20 minutes. On Thursday, the Highlanders made 51.2 percent of their shots after the break as they turned a five-point halftime lead into a 14-point win.

Johnson led the offensive push over the final stanza making six of nine shots from the floor on his way to a 17-point half. The junior had four points in a 9-1 UCR run that lifted the Highlanders to an 11-point lead, 48-37, with 12:32 remaining. Just 26 seconds later, Primitivo Gomez drained a three-pointer, to push the advantage to 12, and UC Riverside never led by less than 10 the rest of the way.

That was one of 13 made threes on the night for the Highlanders. Bland went six for nine from beyond the arc, and now has 11 made threes in just two games on the year. Four of those threes came in the first half as Bland led UC Riverside with 12 points. Robert Boezeman went four for six from long distance in scoring a dozen points.

Nate Kratch posted a 22-point, 12-rebound to lead the Broncos (0-4), and Jared Brownridge added 18 points. The pair combined to go 14 for 21 from the field, but their teammates went just nine for 33.

The Highlanders travel to San Francisco Saturday evening for a 7 pm PT tip against the Dons.