UCRMBB Pickett 19
81
Winner UC Riverside UCR 10-5,5-3 Big West
75
UC San Diego UCSD 4-8,0-0 Big West
Winner
UC Riverside UCR
10-5,5-3 Big West
81
Final
75
UC San Diego UCSD
4-8,0-0 Big West
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UC Riverside UCR 44 37 81
UC San Diego UCSD 36 39 75

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Pickett, Rebounding, and the Three-ball Propels Highlanders Past Tritons, 81-75

Presented by Altura Credit Union

LA JOLLA, Calif. — The UC Riverside Men's Basketball team picked up a road win at UC San Diego, 81–75 in game one of the series.

The Highlanders were led by senior guard Dominick Pickett, who scored a game-high 19 points on six-of-nine shooting, including five-of-eight from long distance. For Pickett, it was his second time hitting five or more threes in the last three contests—last Friday night he hit a career-high six triples. 

"Dom is our Tom Brady. Carries our team with confidence since the first day we got here. He is our calming presence and he did it again when we needed it on the road against an up and coming very good UCSD team." said Head Coach Mike Magpayo of Pickett. 

As a team, UCR went 14-29 from long range and saw eight different players connect from distance. They also won the battle of boards 39-25 helping them claim their fourth win in five games and improve their road record to 6-2 on the season.

Zyon Pullin had a signature all-round performance with 14 points and six assists to go with five rebounds, while Arinze Chidom overcame early foul trouble to score 14 points of his own and pull down a game-high seven boards in 22 minutes. George Willborn III helped the Highlanders stay in rhythm during Chidom's absence, scoring eight first half points (2-2, 3pts) and collecting four cards. 

Coach Magpayo on the offensive flow and defensive adjustments: "Zyon and Arinze started taking it to the rim. Flynn drove and found Dom for a huge three when they were making a run, then we started switching everything to avoid giving up threes… George was huge for us off the bench today giving us momentum and energy."

The Tritons made a late charge to make it a one possession game, 78-75, with 1:36 to play and had a chance to tie with under a minute to go, but Jock Perry intercepted an errant pass as UCSD was frantically in search of a three-point attempt–helping to seal the UCR victory. 

"A tough, tough road win today. Proud of the guys for gutting this one out and finding a way. Let's see if we can find a way tomorrow." said Magpayo.

Game two is Saturday at 5pm on ESPN3 live from La Jolla.