RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Thursday's Big West opener at the SRC Arena paved the way for what's to be an always grueling conference schedule, as UC Riverside pulled away late for a 71-59 win over CSU Bakersfield. 

A deceiving scoreline improved UCR to 7-15 all-time in Big West openers, 1-0 in conference play for the first time under Mike Magpayo and 5-0 this year when leading inside the five-minute mark of the second half. 

"It took our guys a half to figure it out but as we always say, they found a solution," Magpayo said. "It was nice to see some other guys step up in double figures with Jamal who turned the game for us in the second half. Kyle Owens had a big effort as well and continues to consistently bring great production, along with Lachlan and Jhaylon."

A low-scoring but close affair was the tale of the tape early in both teams' Big West openers, as Kyle Owens' second half performance against Portland carried over with three of UCR's first four field goals of the evening. Owens revitalized a temporarily sluggish Highlander offense in the first half en route to a season-high 19 points on a 6-of-11 clip following a dominant first half. 

UC Riverside's low post presence continued to get it done out of halftime, but it was Luke Turner's big three and a layup from Lachlan Olbrich that gave UCR its first lead since early in the first half. Jhaylon Martinez grabbed a game-high 10 boards on the night in UC Riverside's fourth 40-rebound outing on the year and first since November 23 against Abilene Christian. 

Jamal Hartwell II turned it up off the Highlander bench with a string of three triples that pushed UCR to a double-digit lead courtesy of a mini 9-0 run, as the Highlanders began to impose their will just at the right time. Hartwell, who entered Thursday already as UCR's leading scorer off the bench, finished with 14 points - 12 in the second half - on 4-of-7 shooting, all from three. 

The George Mason transfer was one of three Highlanders in double figures on the night, joining Owens (19) and Olbrich (13). 

UC Riverside will hit the road for the first time in the 2022-23 Big West schedule with a 3:00 p.m. tipoff on New Year's Eve at Long Beach State on ESPN+.