RIVERSIDE, CA— The University of California, Riverside's Men's Basketball Team has released its Big West Conference (BWC) 2020-21 schedule. In its release announcing the modified conference schedule, the BWC notes, "Dates are subject to any necessary state and local approvals. All 11 member institutions will play 20 conference games under a modified format that will reduce travel and emphasize the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and staff."

At the helm for the Highlanders in his first season, head coach Mike Magpayo commented on the modified schedule stating, "I appreciate the Big West Conference and the Leadership at UC Riverside making this schedule and this season happen. It will be quite an adjustment for our student-athletes playing the same team back to back. It will have a little bit of an NBA Playoff feel, playing the same team on back to back nights. Fortunately for me, I have some experience coaching back to back nights during my time at Columbia in the Ivy League when we played Friday nights and Saturday nights consecutively. "

The Big West elaborated on the changes to the 2020-21 schedule format due to COVID-19, stating, "The traditional home-and-home round-robin schedule has been altered so that teams will play the same opponent on consecutive days at one site, with the majority of games taking place on Friday and Saturday. Each team will contest the schedule over an 11-week period with one bye week built in. Games will not be rescheduled should a team need to quarantine during the season.  Tie-breaking procedures shall be utilized at the end of the regular-season."
 
Conference play will commence for the Highlanders with back-to-back games on Sunday, December 27 and Monday, December 28. Regular season conference competition will wrap up on March 6.

The Highlanders will open conference competition at home, welcoming Long Beach State University to the SRC arena on December 27 and 28. That following weekend, they will hit the road to face the University of California, Davis on January 1 and 2.

Next, the University of Hawaii will travel to the Inland Empire to face the Highlanders at home in the SRC Arena the following weekend, January 8 and 9.
Speaking to the eagerness of his squad, Magpayo added, "Our returning players are really looking forward to building off of last season's run (a UCR program record 17 wins). When the 2020 season was canceled, we had won three of the last four Big West games (two on the road) to close conference competition strong. We have seven returning players who have started games for us at some point in the last two years, so we should be comfortable playing our Big West rivals."

On January 15 and 16, UCR will hit the road to battle Cal Poly. The following weekend, the Highlanders will host California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) in their first matchup as conference rivals, with CSUB being one of two new teams joining the Big West this year.

The Highlanders will have a break from Big West competition during their bye week, with no BWC games slated for January 29 and 30.

The squad will resume their BWC schedule on February 5 and 6, traveling to California State University Fullerton to face the Titans. The following weekend they return home and host University of California, Irvine at the SRC Arena on February 12 and 13.

February 19 and 20 the Highlanders travel south to play the second new addition to the Big West this season, University of California, San Diego. The next home game for the Highlanders will be against University of California, Santa Barbara the weekend of February 26 and 27.

UC Riverside will wrap up conference competition on the road against CSUN March 5 and 6.

Now just over a month away from the November 25 official NCAA start date for the season, and the first in the Coach Magpayo era, it is clear the leader of the Highlanders is expecting his experienced team to compete amongst the top contenders in the Big West.

"With everything that has taken place over the past seven months, I could not be more proud of this resilient group of young men," he added. "They are eager to represent UC Riverside at the highest level and continue to elevate Highlander Basketball!"
 
Per the direction of the Big West Board of Directors, all teams will begin the season without spectators in attendance. The issue of fan attendance will be revisited as the season progresses.

"The Big West Board of Directors did its due diligence in examining all of the factors involved in a safe and responsible return to competition, with basketball being the pilot moving forward," said Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly. "The Big West Conference understands the need for consistent and multi-layered levels of testing protocols that put safety at the forefront for our member institutions. Cognizant of state and county restrictions, and the NCAA Core Principles of Resocialization of Collegiate Basketball, we feel we have a plan in place that will adhere to those mandates."

Per the BWC, Tie-breaking and game management protocols will be announced in the coming weeks, as will a broadcast schedule.

The 2021 Big West Basketball Tournament is scheduled to begin Wednesday, March 10 and play to Saturday, March 13 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Eight men's and eight women's teams will compete under one roof over the four days.