RIVERSIDE, Calif.— After starting off the 2018-19 season with a three-game road stint, The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team is set open up its home schedule Saturday afternoon. The Highlanders will take on UC Merced in a Homecoming matchup at 4:00 PM at the SRC Arena.

HOMECOMING
The Highlanders will play in front of their home crowd at the SRC Arena for the first time on November 17th for their Homecoming match against UC Merced.

The Golden Bobcats traveled to Riverside, CA last season as well and the Highlanders earned their largest margin of victory besting UC Merced 91-46.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BOBCATS
UC Merced comes into Saturday's game at an undefeated 4-0 after besting Oregon Tech last weekend 79-62 at home. They are led offensively by Jonah Cotrell who averages 12 ppg.

FROM DOWNTOWN
The Highlanders have found success from behind the arc this season as their 8.6 threes p/game rank 1st in the Big West. Sophomore guard Dikyembe Martin leads that charge shooting 6-for-11 (.545).

DIKYMBE DROPS 20
UCR's leading scorer from last year continued where he left off as Dikymbe Martin scored 20 points in the season opener vs Oregon State (Nov 6) on a very efficient 7-11 (3-4 3pt) shooting performance. He also added 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

DRAGAN FROM DEEP
Freshman Dragan Elkaz dropped 12 points in his NCAA debut vs Oregon State (Nov 6) as the guard sunk three 3-pointers and three free throws.

THE DAVID PATRICK ERA
The 2018-19 season is set to be a historic one as first-year Head Coach David Patrick will be at the helm. Coach Patrick takes over Highlanders Hoops with an impressive resume that features stints at Saint Mary's, LSU, and TCU. Patrick was welcomed to the program in early April.

NEW-LOOK COACHING STAFF
In addition to Head Coach David Patrick, the Highlanders have added 5 other new faces to the staff. Assistants Mike Magpayo and Mike Czepil, Director of Operations Michael Lecak, and Graduate Assistant Troy Hammel round out an experienced coaching staff.

BELL IS BACK
UC Riverside Alumnus Justin Bell is the sole returner from last years staff after taking over as Interim Head Coach towards the end of the conference season. The now Associate Head Coach is credited with helping a team that started Big West play 0-8 last year reach the conference tournament.

THE MELTING POT
This year's team is a mix of new student-athletes and returners, some recruited by the current coaching staff and others brought in before the staff's arrival, but you would never know it the way these Highlanders have come together in the preseason. They are truly embracing the team's motto: Run as One.

Here is what Coach Patrick had to say on the matter...

"These are all our guys. The returners and the new guys know that and nobody feels like they're on an island," Patrick said. "We brought everyone in early and I think that gave us an advantage, because they all got a chance to gel and bond as a team."


OTHER COACH PATRICK QUOTES
On the journey from day one to game one...

"Since our first practice together they have gotten better day by day and have really answered what our coaching staff has asked them for," said Patrick. "The main thing is their attitudes have been great and they have bought in to what we've sold them, which is trying to be in the best shape they can be, being as mentally and physically tough as they can be, and holding themselves accountable. They have done that from day one."

On new coaching staff...

"Our coaches are great mix of guys with no egos," Patrick explained. "When it came time to start thinking about our staff I made an effort to pick experienced leaders who don't think anything is beneath them. They're all willing to roll up their sleeves, work hard, and wear many hats if we need them to and they have done a great job with that."

On Dikymbe Martin...

"I've really been impressed with DK so far," Patrick said. "We know he has the ability to score, but he has also been open to us changing his role in needing him to defend and rebound better. He has really bought in, which is great because change is always hard when you're used to scoring a lot of points."

On Menno Dijkstra and Eric Rwahwire returning...

"Right now Menno is in the best shape he has been in here and is skilled both inside and from the perimeter," Patrick said. "Rwahwire has been extremely vocal and has shown a lot of leadership so we are looking for him to bring that to the court Tuesday night."

THE RETURNERS
Six Highlanders return to the UC Riverside roster....

           #10 Ajani Kennedy
           #13 Eric Rwahwire
           #15 Dikyembe Martin
           #22 Dominick Pickett
           #31 Ryker Pierce
           #32 Menno Dijkstra

"MR. RIVERSIDE"
The Highlanders' leading scorer and Riverside native, junior guard Dikymbe Martin, returns for his junior year at UC Riverside after averaging 31.5 minutes p/game, 13.5 ppg, 2.8 apg, 3.6 rpg, and 1.2 steals per game. He also shot 40% on the year behind the arch.

THE FAB FIVE
Five freshman join the Highlanders in their first ever NCAA Season...

    #0 Dragan Elkaz
    #3 DJ McDonald
    #11 Zac Watson
    #24 Kendall Stubblefield
    #25 Callum McRae

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Much like last year, the Highlanders will be on the road for most of the non-conference season tallying 10 total away/nuetral games before they open Big West play.

These games feature Oregon State, Portland State, UNLV, Pacific, Valparaiso, UT El Paso, Air Force, and Western Michigan. UCR will aso face Elon and Abilene Christian as a part of the Tiger Thanksgiving Tournament in Stockton, CA.

THE CROSSTOWN SHOWDOWN
With Cal Baptist making the transition to Division I this season, the Highlanders and Lancers will meet for the first time in both team's DI eras in a battle for Riverside dubbed The Crosstown Showdown.

The first edition will be held at UC Riverside on November 29th at 7:00 PM. So far the series is tied 1-1 as UCR MEn's Soccer defeated CBU 2-1 in OT, but the Lancers took the Women's Volleyball match 3-2. Men's Basketball will be the tie-breaker for now.

THE BIG WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The Big West Conference Tournament is set for the weekend of Thursday March 14th - Sunday March 17th. The winner of the tournament gets automatic entrance to the NCAA Tournament.

Last year, the Highlanders battled at the end of the conference season under Interim Head Coach and UCR Alumnus Justin Bell to make to the Big Weest Tournament and nearly knocked off the No. 1 seed in UC Davis. The Aggies edged out the Highlanders 70-66.