RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Looking poised to upset the top team in the Big West Conference, the Highlanders took a first-half lead, held UC Irvine scoreless for much of the second half and led the game with under two minutes to play, but a late run allowed the Anteaters to escape with a 63-59 defeat over UC Riverside Wednesday night at SRC Arena in a game seen on ESPN3.

The Highlanders (14-12, 4-6) were led by 17 points by Dominick Pickett, 16 from Callum McRae (7 rebounds) and 10 from Khyber Kabellis (7 assists). McRae shot 8-for-12 from the field and Pickett was 3-for-4 from downtown, but it was not enough to answer a final push from the 'Eaters (16-10, 8-2), who were led by 18 points from Eyassu Worku, 17 from Collin Welp and 13 from Evan Leonard. Brad Greene had 10 rebounds for UC Irvine and the Highlanders were outrebounded during the first 20 minutes before a strong second-half post presence allowed the Highlanders to end the game with a +1 advantage on the glass.

Both teams came into Wednesday's matchup following close losses, the Highlanders returning home after just missing a road win at Cal State Northridge, 61-59, on Feb. 8, and UC Irvine trying to bounce back from its 64-61 road loss Feb. 8 at UC Santa Barbara.

Kabellis opened the scoring with a three-pointer Wednesday in his first attempt after missing a potential game-winning three-pointer at CSUN, and UC Riverside showed potential to hand the Anteaters their first back-to-back Big West losses since 2017.

The Highlanders led the entire first 10 minutes of play, with Pickett and McRae both on their way to 10 points by halftime, before two straight treys by the Anteaters' Isaiah Lee (9 points) gave UCI its first lead of the night. The 'Eaters and Highlanders traded leads eight times over the next three minutes before two more buckets from Leonard helped extend the UC Irvine lead to nine points at the break. 

Faced with that nine-point halftime deficit, UC Riverside held the Anteaters scoreless for over seven minutes in the second half, then tied the game on three straight free throws by Dragan Elkaz (5 pts) during a 13-2 run that helped them retake the lead by as much eight with a little more than five minutes to play. But a 15-0 run by UC Irvine to close the game brought the home squad back to ground level and the Highlanders saw their chance slip away to end a 10-game losing streak to the Anteaters. Instead, UC Irvine completed a regular-season series sweep.
"Hats off to the Anteaters," said head coach David Patrick. "Our defense was better for much of the second half, but some plays down the stretch hurt us. We established our post and I'm proud of the way we defended the three in the second half. We don't want to rest on the laurels of a moral victory. It hurts to lose but I think we did some things to feel good about."

Coming up for the Highlanders is a trip to Long Beach State for a Saturday tipoff, as UC Riverside will seek to sweep its regular season series against The Beach. Said coach Patrick, "We didn't hang our head after last Saturday night in Northridge and we're going to get back to work to see what can do this Saturday night in Long Beach."

NOTES
Wednesday night at SRC Arena was the annual World Game, in which international students from UC Riverside Extension created posters to display during the game with messages of support in different languages.

Head coach David Patrick on the competition the Big West Conference: "I look at the Big West and other conferences around America and it's about the same: the road's tough in this league. You have good coaches and the talent level that make it a tough night every night. You can't hang your head and you can't get too comfortable."