RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside won its third game over UC Santa Barbara in its last four meetings on Saturday night at the SRC Arena with a gritty 79-77 win to close out 2023. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Isaiah Moses started a hot 3 for 3 from the field as UCR held an 11-8 lead with a 6-1 rebounding edge. Moses put up 15 of his 21 points in the first half on 7-of-11 shooting. 
• UC Riverside picked up a 6-2 run in the second half to take a 45-44 lead on a Nate Pickens free throw at 15:12. Jhaylon Martinez provided the points inside soon after, muscling through for the contested bucket to give UCR the one-point advantage. 
• UCR sent the Gauchos on a cold streak from beyond the arc while both teams' inside play made for a chess match on the scoreboard. 
• Barrington Hargress quickly shot up to 17 points with a trio of consecutive stepbacks as both sides continued to trade offensive jabs down the stretch. Hargress, who scored 14 straight points down the stretch, laid into Santa Barbara's post defense on back-to-back UCR possessions to give UC Riverside the 76-73 lead with 33 seconds on the clock. 
• Kyle Owens put up 10 points with a steal, a block and two rebounds while Kaleb Smith tied a career high with six rebounds. 

COACH'S CORNER

• "That was a great team win for us tonight. It takes a lot of faith for our guys to stick with it all year and fight for growth through the adversity of the season. We're working to create our own momentum and did a great job tonight to protect home court against a very good team." - Mike Magpayo

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

• Hargress set a new career high with 26 points on Saturday - 17 of which came after halftime - on 11-of-19 shooting for a new individual single-game high for UC Riverside this season. Hargress was four points shy of becoming the second consecutive newcomer to score 30 points in his first season (Jamal Hartwell II). 
• UC Riverside shot a season-high 50.8% against the Gauchos and 38.9% from three - its best long-range performance at the SRC Arena this season - while on the other end of the floor, holding the Gauchos to just 3 of 14 from three. 
• UCR improved to 6-0 when leading at the 5:00 mark of the second half and outscored the opposition in bench points for the third game in their last four. 

UP NEXT

• UC Riverside is back in action on Thursday, January 4 with a 7:00 p.m. home tipoff against UC Davis on ESPN+.