EL PASO, Texas - UC Riverside opened the Cerebro Sports Golden Turkey Classic. on Monday night with a 52-40 win over UTEP at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso.
The Highlanders had some first-half cobwebs to shake off, but ultimately secured the victory in the midst of one of a grueling non-conference slate.
"That was as quality a road win as they come," head coach Mike Magpayo said. "It shows where our program is headed."
UC Riverside got out to an early rebounding edge with a 5-2 advantage on the glass through the first media timeout. Quinton Ford's inside finish at the 9:56 mark stopped a scoring slump for UCR before Zyon Pullin drove down the lane to cut the Miners' lead to four.
Wil Tattersall knocked down the Highlanders' second three of the night to cut a UTEP lead to 15-12 before a Pullin free throw cut the deficit to a field goal. Dominick Pickett's long three kept UCR around with a 17-16 deficit at the under-four media break. Pickett again drained a three to give UC Riverside its first lead of the night as the half wound down.
Pickett impressed in his first start since November 11 with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting (all from three) and five rebounds in the first half. The graduate returnee was a key part in UCR's run to end the half, as the Highlanders scored 10 points in the final five minutes after managing just 13 in the previous 15 minutes. Pickett accounted for six of UCR's final 10 before finishing the evening with a season-high 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
"Dom provided the calm and another point guard out there and got us off the snide with his three triples in the first half and five steals."
Defensive versatility and switching meant three-pointers were sparse on Monday night in west Texas. All four made threes in the first half came from UCR, who shut down the Miners from deep on an 0-for-9 clip from the hosts. UTEP wouldn't convert from deep until six minutes remained in the second half as UCR held the Miners to 1 of 24 from beyond the arc.
JP Moorman scored all of his game-high 14 points in the second half on 6-of-11 shooting on Monday night, as UCR held UTEP seven minutes scoreless while going on a 5-0 run.
Flynn Cameron connected on his first triple of the night and UCR's first of the second half with four and a half minutes remaining in the game. Pullin came back down the floor on the ensuing UC Riverside possession to drain a step back jumper and give the Highlanders a 10-point cushion with four minutes on the clock.
The Highlanders used their transition game to pull ahead in the second half with a 19-8 advantage on points off turnovers in the second half. After shooting 36 percent from the floor in the first half, UCR dialed it in for a 50 percent clip in the latter 20 minutes.
UC Riverside closes out the Cerebro Sports Golden Turkey Classic on Friday, November 26, hosting Florida A&M at the SRC Arena with a 2:00 p.m. tipoff. Friday's matinee will be broadcast on ESPN+ and fans can purchase tickets at GoHighlanders.com or by emailing highlandertickets@ucr.edu.
