RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside opened Big West play on Saturday evening with an off night, falling 68-51 to UC Irvine at the SRC Arena. 

UCR got out to its second quick start of the weekend after a banked-in three from Wil Tattersall gave the Highlanders a 9-0 lead in the highly anticipated conference opener for both squads. Tattersall made his second consecutive start on Saturday evening. 

Both teams traded buckets over the next few minutes with neither team having a lead of over two over the next four minutes up to the under-8 media timeout. 

Dominick Pickett played his 117th game as a Highlander on Saturday - tied for fifth all time in program history - and had the start to match the fanfare. The fifth-year guard started a cool 3 of 4 from the floor and led all scorers at the half with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. 

Callum McRae picked up his first bucket of the night on a hook shot in the low post with five minutes remaining until halftime, before Pickett pulled up from the top of the key for a triple to make it a 5-0 run and extend UCR's lead to 25-21. The Highlanders also held UCI to 1 of 6 from deep to end the first 20 minutes. 

A defensive clinic from both teams for a good five minutes in the opening portion of the second half ended with JP Moorman II completing a three-point play to go ahead 36-34. UC Irvine's offense caught up midway through the first half, but back-to-back buckets from Zyon Pullin and Tattersall brought the Highlanders back to within 10 at the media break. 

JP Moorman II led UCR in scoring for the second time in the last three outings with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while McRae joined the transfer in double figure scoring with 10 points. 

UCR is back in action on Thursday, January 13 at Cal Poly. The action will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats available on gopoly.com.