Box Score Riverside—Secean Johnson celebrated senior night Wednesday evening pouring in 17 points to lead the Highlanders, but UC Irvine used a 12-0 run early in the second half to pull away for a 68-56 victory.

Neither team led by more than five points throughout the entirety of the first half, and the Anteaters (18-13, 11-4) took a 33-31 lead in to the locker room at the break.

Johnson scored the first points out of the intermission to tie the score at 33, but those were the last points the Highlanders would score, as they went just over five minutes between scores and more than seven minutes between baskets. The 'Eaters ran off 12 straight points during that five-minute drought, and never trailed again.

UC Riverside (7-20, 5-11) pulled to within seven on two occasions, but were never able to get closer.

UC Irvine's Luke Nelson led all scorers with 21 points, while Ioannis Dimakopoulos added 19, and Jaron Martin chipped in with 14. Together, the trio accounted for 54 of the team's 68 points.

The Highlanders must wait until the weekend to determine their opponent in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament slated for Thursday, March 9 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.