HONOLULU - One of the most anticipated games of the season was played as advertised, as UC Riverside overcame an 11-point deficit to win a Division I era-record 20th game of the season.
The story continues to tell itself.
While the Highlanders already had a fourth straight winning season in the bag entering Thursday's heavyweight bout, the 54-52 win inside SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center was the sixth comeback win of 10 points this year or more for a team whose ceiling is now higher than it's ever been.
"This group continues to break barriers and our ceiling is to be determined," said head coach Mike Magpayo, who picked up his 50th win at UC Riverside in the process while the Highlanders won their fourth in their last five in the Aloha State. "I know the guys have an incredible hunger to grow on a daily basis, and the results are taking care of themselves."
Cold shooting in an otherwise warm setting was the tale of the tape early with just a 10-10 ballgame after Lachlan Olbrich broke a three-minute scoreless stretch for the Highlanders. Scoring continued to come at a premium for the Highlanders, except from at the free throw line where Olbrich was 2 for 3 early.
The Aussie finished with his second double double against Hawaii this season, going for 13 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday while adding two assists.
Hawaii found a hole to gain at least a two-possession edge, but Zyon Pullin pushed back with an immediate driving jumper to end a UCR scoreless drought of nearly two minutes. Pullin finished with 24 points and became the fifth Highlander in the program's Division I era to log 3,000 career minutes.
UCR got buckets from Pullin and Flynn Cameron within two minutes of the second half's first inbound, a welcome relief following an uncharacteristically cold first 20 minutes. The Highlanders started 3 of 4 from the floor to start the second half.
UC Riverside continued to shake off the cobwebs with more careful shot selection, going 4 for 5 from the floor up to the first media timeout and 5 of 7 after Vladimer Salaridze's jumper. The Highlanders whittled a once double-digit lead down to five with a scoop and score from Olbrich.
Pullin turned on the switch midway through the second half, bringing the deficit down to a single point with a 9-0 Highlander run while holding the Rainbow Warriors scoreless for nearly four minutes. He gave UCR its first lead since 12-11 and Cameron followed suit after a Hawaii response, ultimately building the Highlander run to 15-3.
The jets were now fully on for UC Riverside at that point, who put up 40 first-half points after just 14 in the first 20 minutes. UCR shot 51.5 percent in the second half compared to just 35.9 in the first half and ended the game shooting 8 for 13 from the floor.
UC Riverside and Hawaii traded layups with under a minute and a half left and Olbrich made one of two from the line before a last-second gasp from the Rainbow Warriors fell off the mark.
Thursday's results around the Big West set up for a high-stakes Senior Night with UC Irvine on Thursday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
