Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team exploded for 51 points in the second half Saturday evening to turn a five-point halftime lead into a 26-point victory over the visiting Portland State Vikings.

The Highlanders (5-3) scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second half to take their first double-digit lead of the game, 47-34. It was still an 11-point UCR lead with 7:50 remaining when Nick Gruninger found Taylor John for an alley-oop dunk which ignited a 12-0 Highlanders run, effectively ending the game.

UCR made 71.4 percent of its field goal attempts after the break including eight of 13 from three-point range. Jaylen Bland scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half, while John and Steven Thornton each scored nine over the final 20 minutes of play.

John finished with a game-high 20 points, while Bland scored 17 and Thornton and Gruninger chipped in with 14 and 12 apiece. DaShaun Wiggins led two Viking (4-3) players in double-figures with 17 points.

The Highlanders dominated the interior outscoring the Vikings 44-26 on points in the paint. They also led Portland State 25-9 in points off turnovers, and finished the game with the program's third highest field goal percentage ever at 64.8 percent.

UC Riverside travels to Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 10 at 8 pm PT to play UCLA.