FULLERTON, Calif. - UC Riverside men's basketball grabbed its first road win of the year and third win overall on Thursday at one of the most pivotal points of the campaign, claiming an 81-73 win over Cal State Fullerton at Titan Gym.  

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• UC Riverside was hot out of the gate, shooting 4 for 5 from the floor to begin Thursday's contest with threes from Isaiah Moses and Nate Pickens. Kaleb Smith joined the triple parade soon after to make it 13-2 and put the Highlanders on a 10-2 scoring run.  
• UCR distributed its scoring up and down the bench throughout the first half while Smith reached five rebounds for the eighth time in his last 14 games after doing so 0 times in his previous 12.  
• Fullerton chiseled the lead down to 33-31, but UCR ended the half on a 7-2 run with three free throws from Ben Griscti at the end of the period.  
• Pickens led UCR at the break with 12 points, also collecting a pair of threes in the first 20 minutes. 
• The Highlanders shot 46% from the field and 40% from three in the second half, limiting Fullerton to just 3 of 10 from three in the second half to put the clamps on any sort of comeback attempt.  
• UC Riverside kept chopping on both sides of the ball and permanently separated itself from Fullerton out of the under four media timeout of the second half.  

COACHES' CORNER 

• There has been recognizable growth. We see it in the daily work the team puts in and that's been steady through the losses and wins. For the guys to pull out a road win vs a fierce competitor who kept coming at us in waves shows that our guys are learning how to respond when things get tough. The adversity this year has given the team true substance and grit. The team earned this one." - Head coach Mike Magpayo  

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS 

• Thursday snapped a two-game skid to the Titans while giving UCR its third straight win and first this year away from the SRC Arena.  
• UCR posted its best three-point performance away from the SRC Arena on Thursday, shooting 48% from behind the line. The Highlanders also limited Cal State Fullerton to nine assists, the third time this season UCR has yielded under 10 in a game and first time since December 30 vs. UC Santa Barbara.  
• Barrington Hargress fueled the second-half offense with 15 of his 21 points after halftime, also grabbing eight rebounds out of the break with three assists and two steals. The freshman now has three of UCR's last four 20-point individual performances.  

UP NEXT 

• UC Riverside will stay on the road for another tough matchup on Saturday, battling UC Davis at the University Credit Union Center for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff on ESPN+.