Honolulu, HI—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team heads to the Aloha State this week, looking to extend its conference winning streak to four straight games, with a Wednesday, January 25 meeting with Hawai'i. Tip is slated for 9 pm PT.
The Highlanders then return to the Inland Empire for a Saturday, January 28 game against CSUN. UC Riverside is honoring long-time Head Men's Basketball Coach John Masi at halftime of the Matadors game, which tips at 5 pm.
Should the Highlanders defeat the Rainbow Warriors, they would tie the program record for consecutive Big West Conference wins. UC Riverside won four straight league games from January 5-14, 2012.
UC Riverside ran its winning streak to three in a row with a 65-55 victory over visiting UC Santa Barbara on Saturday (
box score/
recap). In keeping with the Highlanders' seasonal mantra, it was a total team effort with five players scoring in double figures. Defensively, UCR limited the Gauchos to 30.5 percent shooting from the field, marking the third straight game, and fourth time in the last six, that the Highlanders held an opponent below 40 percent shooting.
Since a December 31 victory over Grand Canyon, UC Riverside is 4-2, outscoring opponents by 5.3 points per game, connecting on 47.2 percent of its shots from the field, and holding opponents to just 36.2 percent from the floor.
Secean Johnson leads the team in scoring at 11.3 points per game, but three other Highlanders—Chance Murray (11.1), Gentrey Thomas (9.6) and Malik Thames (9.3)—are bunched closely behind him.
Freshman Dikymbe Martin is averaging 7.6 points per game, and ranks eighth in the conference in steals, and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio. Alex Larsson is the team's top post player, and is averaging 12.0 points per game over his last two contests, while connecting on 64.7 percent of his field goal attempts during that time.
Hawai'i enters the week with an 8-10 record, including 2-3 in Big West play, following a 76-70 loss to UC Davis, Saturday. The Rainbow Warriors are allowing conference opponents to score 82.2 points per game, and make 49.3 percent of their field goal attempts. Offensively, Hawai'i ranks fifth in the league in field goal percentage (.444) against Big West foes, but second to last in three-point field goal percentage (.278).
Noah Allen leads the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game, and in rebounding at 5.6 boards per game. Gibson Johnson also averages in double figures at 10.6 points per game, and leads the team in field goal percentage (.493). Jack Purchase is the Rainbow Warrior's top three-point threat (.377) and free throw shooter (.938), while scoring 10.4 points per game.
The Highlanders are 3-7 all-time against Hawai'i, and picked up their first road win over the Rainbow Warriors last season in a 77-71 decision (
box score/
recap). Johnson recorded a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double in the victory.
CSUN enters the week with a 7-12 record, including 3-3 in the Big West. After opening conference play with three straight wins, including an 82-76 victory over the Highlanders (
box score/
recap), the Matadors have dropped three in a row. They to UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday before making their way to the Inland Empire.
Northridge continues to lead the league in scoring (78.5 ppg), field goal percentage (.461) and three-point field goal percentage (.368), although those numbers have diminished somewhat since the start of conference play (76.5 ppg, .42.7 FG%, 36.8 3G%).
Despite the team's success at shooting from long distance, they rank last in the conference in three-point field goal attempts in Big West games, averaging just 12.6 per contest. By way of contrast, Cal Poly leads the league, launching 24.4 shots per game from beyond the arc, and UC Riverside takes 17.0.
CSUN had four players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Kendall Smith's 16.5 per game, which ranks second in the Big West. Smith also connects on 40.3 percent of his three-pointers—third best in the league. Teammate Darin Johnson ranks second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 40.6 percent, and is the Matadors' third leading scorer at 13.4 points per game.
Tavrion Dawson ranks second on the team in scoring (14.1 ppg), and first in rebounding (5.8). He also ranks third in the league in field goal percentage, making 55.2 percent of his shots.
The Highlanders are 35-41 all-time against the Matadors, and have lost two straight in the series. Prior to those two most recent results, UC Riverside took three of four from CSUN. All three victories were by five points or less.
