Tuesday, December 29
San Diego, CA
7:00 PM
University of California, Riverside
53
at
58
San Diego State
Photo by: Bobby R. Hester, (c) 2009
Men's Basketball Can't Complete Comeback Falling To SDSU, 58-53
12/29/2009 2:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
San Diego State 58, UC Riverside 53 Box Score
San Diego—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit at San Diego State Tuesday evening, and had a chance to send the game into overtime, but a broken play found David Chavarria with the ball beyond the three-point line and his shot with 4.5 seconds left on the clock was blocked. Kawhi Leonard sank two free throws with 2.3 seconds to go to seal the win, 58-53, for the Aztecs.
SDSU led by nine at the break and pushed the lead to 10, 32-22, with 18:15 left in the game. UCR still trailed by 7 with 5:58 to go when Sean Cunningham's three-pointer made it a four-point contest, 45-41, causing the Aztecs to call time out.
Coming out of the timeout, UCR employed a zone on the defensive end of the floor, but Chase Tapley drained a three to push the lead back to seven. Cunningham made a pair of free throws on the Highlanders' next possession, and a missed three by the Aztecs gave UC Riverside a fastbreak opportunity with Larry Gurganious' follow bringing the Highlanders to within three, 48-45.
The final media timeout of the game came with the Highlanders down 50-45 with 3:29 to go in regulation. Austin nailed a jumper from the elbow on UCR's next possession to cut the lead to three once again. Tapley made two free throws for the Aztecs the next time down the floor, but Dwight Gordon's lay in made it 52-49 as the clock wound down towards the one minute mark.
A Leonard jumper stretched the lead to five again, 54-49, but Austin countered with a pair from the free throw line. Following two missed Leonard free throws, Cunningham drained a jumper inside the three-point line to make it 54-53 with 34.9 seconds to go.
Cunningham fouled Leonard with 27.7 seconds remaining, and this time the freshman made them both to lead 56-53. On UCR's subsequent possession, Austin missed a baseline jumper, but the ball went out of bounds off of SDSU, and the Highlanders had one more chance to tie the game with 8.5 seconds to go setting up Chavarria's desperation shot.
The first half was tight for the first 15-plus minutes of play as the teams were tied at 19 with 4:22 to go in the first following a Bryson Hampton jumper. Up until that point, UC Riverside was successful in forcing the Aztecs to settle for long-range jumpers with San Diego State missing 9 of 10 three-pointers in the half.
Following the four minute media timeout, however, the Aztecs doubled up their efforts at pushing the ball inside where they make 56 percent of their attempts on the year, and closed the period on a 10-1 run to lead 29-20 at the half.
Austin bore the brunt of the Highlanders offensive load in the early going scoring 11 of the team's first 17 points, finishing the game with a team-high 19.
The Highlanders continued to have success forcing the Aztecs into long jumpers with SDSU missing 8 of 10 three-pointers after the break. San Diego State employed a full court press throughout much of the ball game forcing the Highlanders into 16 turnovers on the night, 10 of which came in the first half, converting them into 18 San Diego State points.
Billy White led San Diego State with 13 points on the evening, but 11 of them came in the first period of play.
UC Riverside returns home for the start of conference play on Saturday, January 2 as they take on Long Beach State at the Student Recreation Center at 7 pm PT. UCR fans can listen to all the action as The Voice of the Highlanders, John Ramey, brings the call to gohighlanders.com. It is the first of three straight home games for UC Riverside to open Big West competition.
San Diego—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit at San Diego State Tuesday evening, and had a chance to send the game into overtime, but a broken play found David Chavarria with the ball beyond the three-point line and his shot with 4.5 seconds left on the clock was blocked. Kawhi Leonard sank two free throws with 2.3 seconds to go to seal the win, 58-53, for the Aztecs.
SDSU led by nine at the break and pushed the lead to 10, 32-22, with 18:15 left in the game. UCR still trailed by 7 with 5:58 to go when Sean Cunningham's three-pointer made it a four-point contest, 45-41, causing the Aztecs to call time out.
Coming out of the timeout, UCR employed a zone on the defensive end of the floor, but Chase Tapley drained a three to push the lead back to seven. Cunningham made a pair of free throws on the Highlanders' next possession, and a missed three by the Aztecs gave UC Riverside a fastbreak opportunity with Larry Gurganious' follow bringing the Highlanders to within three, 48-45.
The final media timeout of the game came with the Highlanders down 50-45 with 3:29 to go in regulation. Austin nailed a jumper from the elbow on UCR's next possession to cut the lead to three once again. Tapley made two free throws for the Aztecs the next time down the floor, but Dwight Gordon's lay in made it 52-49 as the clock wound down towards the one minute mark.
A Leonard jumper stretched the lead to five again, 54-49, but Austin countered with a pair from the free throw line. Following two missed Leonard free throws, Cunningham drained a jumper inside the three-point line to make it 54-53 with 34.9 seconds to go.
Cunningham fouled Leonard with 27.7 seconds remaining, and this time the freshman made them both to lead 56-53. On UCR's subsequent possession, Austin missed a baseline jumper, but the ball went out of bounds off of SDSU, and the Highlanders had one more chance to tie the game with 8.5 seconds to go setting up Chavarria's desperation shot.
The first half was tight for the first 15-plus minutes of play as the teams were tied at 19 with 4:22 to go in the first following a Bryson Hampton jumper. Up until that point, UC Riverside was successful in forcing the Aztecs to settle for long-range jumpers with San Diego State missing 9 of 10 three-pointers in the half.
Following the four minute media timeout, however, the Aztecs doubled up their efforts at pushing the ball inside where they make 56 percent of their attempts on the year, and closed the period on a 10-1 run to lead 29-20 at the half.
Austin bore the brunt of the Highlanders offensive load in the early going scoring 11 of the team's first 17 points, finishing the game with a team-high 19.
The Highlanders continued to have success forcing the Aztecs into long jumpers with SDSU missing 8 of 10 three-pointers after the break. San Diego State employed a full court press throughout much of the ball game forcing the Highlanders into 16 turnovers on the night, 10 of which came in the first half, converting them into 18 San Diego State points.
Billy White led San Diego State with 13 points on the evening, but 11 of them came in the first period of play.
UC Riverside returns home for the start of conference play on Saturday, January 2 as they take on Long Beach State at the Student Recreation Center at 7 pm PT. UCR fans can listen to all the action as The Voice of the Highlanders, John Ramey, brings the call to gohighlanders.com. It is the first of three straight home games for UC Riverside to open Big West competition.
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