UC Riverside
Pacific
Second-Half Drought Sends Highlanders To Second Conference Loss, 76-53
1/10/2009 5:50:19 PM | Men's Basketball
(Stockton, CA) – UC Riverside’s men’s basketball team traveled to Stockton, CA on Saturday trying to salvage a split in their two-game road trip with a win over the Pacific Tigers and end their 20-game conference road losing streak in the process. The Highlanders (9-6, 2-2) dropped a 65-58 decision to UC Davis on Thursday evening.
UCR hung with the Tigers (9-5, 2-1) throughout much of the first half, leading by two with just over four minutes to go in the period, but a Chad Troyer three-pointer ignited a 9-0 Pacific run to close the half.
Prior to the Tigers’ run, the Highlanders were hanging with Pacific shot for shot. UCR connected on 44.0 percent of their attempts in the first including 6 of 12 from three-point range while the Tigers were making 46.7 percent of theirs including 7 of 16 from beyond the arc.
UCR’s main nemesis in the first period was Tigers’ guard Troyer who was 4 of 8 from three-point range and scored 14 points in the half including six of Pacific’s final nine before the break.
The Highlanders needed to clamp down defensively in the second 20 minutes of play, but the Tigers came out shooting just as hot to start the second as they ended the first. Two more Troyer threes and two buckets by Anthony Brown pushed the Pacific lead to 17 before UCR finally ended the Tigers’ run at 19-0 on a Javon Borum three-pointer. That basket made the score 47-33 with 14:45 to go.
The Tigers were able to maintain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game leading by as many as 26 and ultimately winning 76-53. The 76 points allowed by UC Riverside are the most points the team has allowed since a season-opening 79-52 loss at New Mexico State.
Troyer’s 23 points led all scorers on the night as the Tigers made 65.2 percent of their shots in the second half and 54.7 percent in the game. Pacific also nailed 13 of 26 shots from three-point range.
Austin paced the Highlanders with 17. It was the eighth straight game in which Austin led UCR in scoring, the longest such streak since in UCR’s Division I history. The Highlanders went cold in the second making just 30.8 percent of their shots.
Rudy Meo and Konner Veteto both picked up their first starts for the Highlanders in the game. The loss was the 14th in 15 tries for UCR against Pacific. The teams tangle again at UCR’s Student Recreation Center on February 5 at 7 pm. The Highlanders return home this week to host Cal State Northridge on Wednesday, January 14 at 7 pm.
