Bri Chew/HIGHLANDER
Bri Chew/HIGHLANDER

It’s been an upsetting week for the UC Riverside men’s basketball team, to say the least. After suffering a crushing defeat against the CSU Fullerton Titans this past Thursday, the team was handily outmatched in an 84-68 loss at UC Irvine. This marks two consecutive losses to kick off Big West Conference play and four straight when carrying over their final two nonconference defeats.

This puts Riverside in a tough spot as they are slated to face conference leader, Hawaii, next Thursday before rounding out the week against a beatable opponent in CSU Northridge. With a history of losing to UC Irvine, it’s disappointing to see this trend continue as the Highlanders were knocked out in the quarterfinals by the Anteaters during the 2014 as well as the 2015 bracket.

Although the last couple of years haven’t been too spectacular for the men’s team, it’s certainly been one of improvement. With an upward trend since 2014 of a record of 5-11 and the following year at 7-9, the team was projected to finish fifth in the preseason and with Taylor Johns and Jaylen Bland being voted into the all-conference team, expectations were high.

With such expectations behind the team, it can be tough to follow through and the Thursday night opener seemed promising as UCR built an impressive 20-point lead by the end of the first half with an all-around effort that didn’t feature their stars.

Yet, in the game’s final 10 minutes, things began to go south. Fullerton’s Tre Coggins (20), Lionheart Lessie (12) and Malcolm Brooks (10) each scored the bulk of their points in the second half, leading the Titans comeback charge en route to a 79-73 win.

Luck was not on UCR’s side as the following game the team was faced with last year’s Big West champs, UC Irvine, who has a current record of 13-5, following closely behind current leader Hawaii. History seemed to repeat itself as the challenge was too great for the team, suffering yet another loss with a score of 84-68. Despite all efforts, UCR never managed to close the 13-point gap that was put up by the Anteaters’ deadly guard, Luke Nelson, pulling in a career-high 29 points, 18 of which were dropped in during the first half.

Despite having an improved squad, with newcomers Malik Thames and Menno Dykstra being instrumental in such a dramatic shift, UCR has had their work cut out for them during this year’s conference. The competition has been stacked against the team, facing the heavyweights of the league so early in the game. With UCR currently sitting at the bottom of the tables, things don’t look too promising as the coming weeks also bring with them premonitions of more strife. With an upcoming matchup against a Hawaii team led by dynamic guard Roderick Bobbitt (averaging nearly 14 points, five rebounds and five assists per game on the year), UCR will have to amp up their effort on both ends of the floor.

 
Yet there’s still hope for the team to follow through. If the Highlanders expect any chance of getting a shot at the Big West Conference title, the time is now for them to prove themselves. Time is running out for UCR and defying all odds against Hawaii this week could be just what the team needs to prove that they shouldn’t be counted out just yet.