Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team was tasked with slowing down the number one ranked offense in the Big West Conference Thursday evening, but it was UC Davis' defense in the first half that proved to be the difference as the Aggies topped the Highlanders, 74-61.

Davis led wire-to-wire, holding UC Riverside (8-9, 1-2) to 26.9 percent shooting in the first half including 0 for nine from three-point range. Meanwhile the Aggies made 47.8 percent of their shots through the first 20 minutes of play, including five of seven from long distance.

UC Davis held the Highlanders' leading scorers, Taylor Johns and Jaylen Bland, to four points apiece on the first.

The Aggies led by 12 at intermission, and scored the first five points of the second half to go up 17 with 18:23 remaining. That was when the Highlanders began to rally. Bland hit back-to-back threes to start an 8-0 run and reduce the UC Davis lead to single digits. He would hit five more threes in the second half, tying the program's Division I era record for made threes in a game with seven. He finished with a career-high 29 points.

Despite Bland's best efforts, the Highlanders could never quite get over the hump. They sliced the lead to five with 14:03 to go and four with 8:43 on the clock, but the Aggies (13-3, 3-0) recovered to remain undefeated in conference play.

UC Riverside remains at home this weekend hosting Hawaii Saturday in a nationally televised game on ESPNU. Tip is slated for 8:30 pm PT.