Box Score Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team used a 24-4 run wrapped around the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to out-slug visiting UC Davis, 61-55, Thursday evening at the SRC Arena (
listen to John Ramey's audio highlights from the game).
It was the first conference win of the season for the Highlanders (3-11, 1-2) who dropped their first two league game on the road by identical six-point margins. The loss was the first in Big West play for the Aggies who fell to 10-8, 2-1 on the season.
Both teams locked down on the defensive end of the floor through the first 11 minutes of play, with UC Davis leading 11-6 with 9:25 to go before halftime. That's when the Highlanders took control of the game scoring 17 of the final 21 points of the period to head into the locker room up 21-15.
UCR held the Aggies to just 23.1 percent shooting from the field, and 16.7 percent from long distance in the first. The Highlanders countered by making 40 percent of their shots, but could have had a larger lead at the half were it not for 10 first period turnovers.
UC Riverside pounced on the Aggies coming out of the break as well, scoring the first nine points after the intermission. The Highlanders stretched their lead to as many as 16, before UC Davis closed the gap over the last 89 seconds of play.
Secean Johnson and Malik Thames led UC Riverside with 13 points apiece, and Chance Murray just missed out on a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds. He also added a game-high five assists.
The Highlanders held the Aggies to 29.2 percent shooting on the night, which is the lowest field goal percentage for a UC Riverside Division I opponent since Air Force made just 29.0 percent of their attempts from the floor back on December 14, 2013.
The Aggies Chima Moneke led all scorers with 17 points and added 11 rebounds, but his teammates made just 13 of 56 shots on the night.
The Highlanders are off this weekend, but head back to the hardwood on Wednesday, January 18 with a 7 pm PT tip at Cal State Fullerton.
