Taylor Johns Back To Basket
Matt Brown

Men's Basketball

Men's Basketball Spoils Cal State Fullerton's Homecoming With 81-71 Victory

Box Score Fullerton, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team had revenge on its mind as it took the floor Saturday evening at Titan Gym. Three weeks earlier, Cal State Fullerton erased a 20-point Highlanders' lead at the SRC Arena to steal a 79-73 victory, handing UCR the first of three straight losses to open Big West play (video higlights/Taylor Johns postgame interview).

After falling behind by as many as nine in the first in the rematch, UC Riverside battled back to take its first lead of the game on a Menno Dijkstra put back with 15:24 to go in the second. The Titans (8-12, 1-6) countered by draining back-to-back threes to retake the lead, but the Highlanders scored the next 11 to go up six, 47-41, with 11:55 on the clock. Malik Thames scored six of his 15 points during the run on a pair of three-pointers.

UC Riverside's (13-11, 4-4) lead vacillated between four and eight over the next seven-plus minutes, but the Highlanders pushed their advantage into double figures with 4:22 to go on a Jaylen Bland three, 63-53. After a Titans' miss, Bland was fouled on the next UCR possession and Secean Johnson converted an old-fashioned three-point play the next trip down the floor to give the Highlanders a 14-point cushion, 68-54.

UC Riverside scored their final 14 points of the game from the free throw line, in securing their fourth conference win of the season, and their third straight victory, 81-71.

Taylor Johns helped keep the Highlanders in the game in the first as he scored 13 of his game-high 22 over the first 20 minutes. The senior made six of 11 shots from the floor before intermission, while the rest of the team combined to go four for 15. It was the third straight 20-plus point effort for the Big West's reigning Player of the Week (story).

Bland finished with 20 points thanks in part to a 10-for-10 effort from the free throw line.

The Highlanders return to the SRC Arena for a four-game home stand beginning next Wednesday, February 3, when they host CSUN at 7 pm PT. The game is being broadcast nationally on ESPN3.