IRVINE, Calif. - UC Riverside hit the road for the first time in two and a half weeks, but was unable to come away with the win in a rematch with UC Irvine, falling 66-56 at the Bren Events Center on Thursday night. 

UCR opened Thursday's rematch in Irvine on an 8-3 run with four points from Zyon Pullin. Pullin led all scorers with seven points at the half, as the Highlanders nursed a two-point edge at the intermission. 

UC Riverside went on a 9-0 run early in the second half of a back-and-forth affair waiting for one side to break through. After Dominick Pickett knocked down a three, a driving layup from the former student manager gave UCR the 34-30 lead just before the under-16 timeout. 

Pickett, who finished his night with a team-high 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, set the program's career games played record on Thursday with his 125th game at UC Riverside. 

UC Irvine found its offensive groove in the second half, but Callum McRae put a hold on the Anteaters' offense with his second field goal of the night at 11:12. Minutes later, McRae again stopped Irvine's surge with a hook shot on Daniel Mading's first assist of the night. 

Pickett knocked down a three with just over four minutes left to pull UCR to within single digits. The fifth-year graduate was feeling his stroke at that point with four makes in his last five attempts, as did the team with three of four from the field and deep. Wil Tattersall countered a UCI three with a triple of his own, as the Highlanders would not go down quietly. 

UC Riverside looked to make it back-to-back comeback victories, but it wasn't to be, despite McRae logging six of his 10 points in the final eight minutes of play. 

The Highlanders will travel south to La Jolla to face UC San Diego on Saturday, February 12 before returning home for their second four-game home stand of Big West play. Saturday's game against the Tritons will be streamed live on ESPN+.