Box Score Honolulu, HI—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team had hopes of moving back to the .500 mark and taking sole possession of fifth place in the Big West Conference Thursday evening, but a shooting slump that last nearly 15 minutes in the first half helped Hawai'i to a 73-52 victory.

The Highlanders scored on three of their first four possessions of the game—a three-pointer by Nick Gruninger, a three-pointer from Jaylen Bland, and layup by Steven Thornton—and led 8-4 with 1:47 gone in the first.

That's when the well ran dry.

UC Riverside missed its next 13 shots from the floor until Thornton ended the drought with a three ball with 3:23 to go before the half. By then, the Rainbow Warriors had built a double-digit lead, 35-20, and the Highlanders were never able to get closer than 12 the rest of the way.

Bland paced UCR with 13 points while Johns added 10 and Thornton finished with nine. Nine different Hawai'i players scored at least four points, led by reserves Isaac Fleming's 15 points and Stefan Jankovic's 12 points. The Rainbow Warriors' bench scored 43 points on the night compared to just 15 for the Highlanders.

UC Riverside returns home this Saturday for a 5 pm PT tip against UC Irvine.