RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Riverside welcomed students back to campus on Monday afternoon at a packed SRC Arena, treating them to free pizza and free extra basketball with a thrilling 83-78 overtime win over Cal Poly to improve to 6-1 in conference play.
Monday's win was the seventh straight in the series for UCR, the Highlanders' longest current winning streak over any conference opponent.
"That crowd was electric," UCR head coach Mike Magpayo said. "The fans tonight helped us to a win there, no doubt. Playing three league games in six days here and with Cal Poly being rested, we needed all the energy we could get. This team has tremendous poise and connectedness and it showed up again when we were on the ropes a bit there"
UCR led a fluid, up-tempo pace to start Monday's contest as the Highlanders maintained separation early, but were rattled with Cal Poly's uncanny 50 percent start from three. UC Riverside bucked the trend after Lachlan Olbrich and Wil Tattersall drained back-to-back threes to stop the bleeding. Olbrich went into halftime making three of his last four field goals before finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds.
The floodgates continued opening courtesy of the three ball and continued that way all night, as UCR opened up a six-point halftime lead thanks to a late 8-0 run and a 6-for-11 first-half clip from deep.
The Highlanders continued to torch the opposition with the three ball, turning in a 57.1 percent clip as a team to record a season high for the second straight game. Individually, Kyle Owens recorded his third straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Flynn Cameron led the way with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting. Cameron also added six assists and has now logged at least five dimes in four games this season, including his last two.
Cal Poly again found bursts of momentum in the second half, but Jhaylon Martinez found the and-one to continue UCR's punching back. Jamal Hartwell II drilled his third three of the evening just seconds under the six-minute mark of the second half, and Owens dropped in a pair of clutch free throws as UCR closed in on the Mustangs.
When Cal Poly seemed to have found a loophole in the Highlanders' defense, Hartwell was there to close the patch. The reigning Big West Player of the Week scored 20 of his 23 points after halftime, connecting on clutch threes time and time again. The Inglewood native continued his streak of going over 50 percent for the floor in every Big West game this season, and UCR stayed unbeaten when Hartwell goes above 50 percent from three as well.
UCR closed a five-point gap with three minutes remaining, but a back-and-forth regulation period with 10 ties and seven lead changes took more than 40 minutes. The Highlanders ultimately edged Cal Poly in the extra period for their first overtime win of the season.
UC Riverside will briefly head to Northern California before returning to the Inland Empire. The Highlanders face UC Davis on Thursday, January 19 in a 6:00 p.m. tipoff from University Credit Union Center on ESPN+.
