Box Score Northridge, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team took on the top scoring team in the Big West to open conference play Wednesday evening, holding the Matadors in check for two thirds of the game, and leading by as many as 13 points in the second half. However a 17-4 Matadors run midway through the second erased the Highlanders' advantage, and CSUN eked out a 82-76 victory.

Looking to prove that the team's most recent victory—a 20-point win over Grand Canyon—was no fluke, the Highlanders (2-10, 0-1) dominated both ends of the floor through 26 minutes, building a 52-39 lead with 14:04 to go. That was when the Matadors began to flip the script on UC Riverside. CSUN scored 17 of the next 21 points to tie the score at 56 with 9:18 on the clock, and took its first lead of the second half with 6:21 remaining.

The Highlanders tried to close the gap, but were hampered in part by a five-for-12 performance from the free throw line over the final 20 minutes. Conversely, the Matadors (5-9, 1-0) made 21 of 26 from the charity stripe—a 16-point swing.

The Matadors entered the game averaging a league-high 79.4 points per game, and UCR held them to just 29 in the first half, and just 37.0 percent shooting from the field.

CSUN has four players averaging double figures in scoring this season, but only two did any damage in the first. Kendal Smith (15.2 ppg) led all scorers with 11 points at the intermission, and Darin Johnson (13.2 ppg) added eight. Tavrion Dawson (14.2 ppg) and Aaron Parks (11.0 ppg) combined to score just two points over the first 20 minutes.

Smith and Johnson each finished with 21 points, while Parks and Dawson combined for 20 after the break, and finished with 12 apiece.

The Highlanders meanwhile had seven players dent the scoring column led by last week's Max Muscle UC Riverside Athlete of the Week, Gentrey Thomas, with nine.

Murray scored 14 of his team-high 21 in the second half, and the Highlanders shot a respectable 44.1 percent from the field during that stretch, but CSUN made 15 of 27 shots (55.6%) to climb back into the game.

UC Riverside  remain on the road this week, traveling to Long Beach State Saturday, January 7 for a 4 pm PT tip against the 49ers. The game is being broadcast around the world on ESPN3.