RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team (9-20, 4-11) enjoyed its first wire-to-wire victory of 2018 against Cal Poly (9-20, 4-11) Thursday on Senior Night, defeating the Mustangs 72-63 behind the Highlanders' big-three of sophomore Dikymbe Martin (20 points) and seniors Chance Murray (17) and Alex Larsson (16).

"It's really the best way to end my UCR home game career," Larsson said. "I'm thrilled, it was a great way to finish up. Thank you to all the fans and supporters for coming out tonight."

KEY RUNS
Feeding off an energized SRC Arena crowd, the seniors got UC Riverside out to a quick start, as Koh Flippin knocked down a pair of triples and Murray hit one of his own to give the home side an 11-3 advantage less than five minutes in. The Highlanders lead would go as high as 12 points on several occasions in the opening half.

The Mustangs remained within striking distance, cutting the deficit to just five at 49-44 on a three-point play by Jakub Niziol with 6:54 to go.

Martin came through down the stretch once again for the Highlanders, scoring 16 of his 20 points in the second half alone. All 11 of the Riverside native's free throw attempts came in the final two minutes to ice the game, as he connected on 10 of them.

GAME NOTES
While the Highlanders didn't have an explosive offensive night by any means (.369 FG%), they were extremely careful with the ball, as they coughed up a season-low five turnovers. That was UC Riverside's lowest turnover total since it had five giveaways against San Diego State on Dec. 19, 2011.

Chance Murray had perhaps the best outside shooting night of his career, knocking down a career-high 5-of-10 from three-point range. He had previously reached three triples on four occasions this season entering Thursday's game.

Dikymbe Martin's game-high 20 points was one shy of his Big West career-high, set last February against Hawaii. It was his first 20-point outing this conference season. Martin's stellar all-around performance also saw him post eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Larsson also set a new conference season-high with 16 points on 7-for-13 (.538) from the field.

"We're ready. We've never looked better," Larsson said. "We've had our ups-and-downs. It's been a tough season with everything that's been going on, but I think this is as good as we'll ever be. We're ready to give our best shot and make a run in the tournament."

Senior Brandon Rosser had the most assists (4) he's ever had in a Highlander jersey, also finishing with four rebounds and four points.

Koh Flippin ended the day with seven points, six boards and two steals in his final home game.

UC Riverside will travel to Long Beach State this Saturday for its regular season finale at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Pyramid.