Irvine, CA – The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team (5-15, 0-6) got out to a promising early start on the road facing UC Irvine (9-14, 4-3) Wednesday night, but struggled with its shot throughout (24.6 FG%), resulting in a 79-40 defeat.

KEY RUNS
The Highlanders came out strong in the opening minutes, taking their only lead of the game, 10-9, at the 15:58 mark. Senior Alex Larsson and redshirt sophomore Eric Rwahwire combined to score UCR's first 12 points as the Highlanders opened the game 4-of-6 (.667) from the field.

Pounding the ball inside, UCI embarked on a 14-1 run midway through the first half, as the Highlanders made just 1 of their next 14 shot attempts. A buzzer-beating Anteater layup would send Irvine to the break with its largest lead of the opening half, 39-19.

UC Irvine would take its largest lead, 75-34, with 5 minutes left in the game.

GAME NOTES
Alex Larsson was limited to just 12 minutes on the night, tallying 8 points (3-4 FG) and 4 rebounds before coming out of the game with an ankle injury in the final minutes of the first half. He did not return.

Despite missing the second half, Larsson's 8 points were the most of any Highlander. This marks the fifth time this year that he has led the team in scoring, and the second time that UCR did not have a double-digit scorer.

UCR was outshot from the field (.500 to .246) and from three-point range (.316 to .100). The Highlanders misfired on their first 13 three-point attempts, before junior Koh Flippin knocked down UCR's first of the day with 7:17 to go in the game. The Highlanders ended the day 2-for-20 from deep.

Eric Rwahwire finished with 6 points – all coming in the first half. That mark was good for the second-highest scoring total of his career.

Both teams were relatively clean with the ball, with UCR committing just 8 turnovers compared to UCI's 10. That was the Highlanders' second-lowest turnover total of the year. Their season-low of 7 turnovers was set against Cal State Fullerton on January 3.

Unfortunately for UC Riverside, the Anteaters were the only side able to capitalize on the mistakes, enjoying a 14-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

Irvine also dominated the rebound battle on the night, finishing with a +25 margin (55 to 30).

UC Riverside will return home this Saturday to face UC Santa Barbara at 5:00 p.m. on ESPN3.