After a slow start to conference play, the Highlanders rattled off four straight wins to put themselves back into the Big West playoff picture. Looking to make it five in a row, UCR was set to take on the 11-3 UCSD Tritons. With the Tritons possessing a two game winning streak of their own, both teams entered this game riding momentum.
UCR head coach Mike Magpayo refused to fix what wasn’t broken. He continued to trust the same starting five that features only one upperclassman, graduate forward Kyle Owens. It was clear from the tip-off that Magpayo tasked sophomore guard Nate Pickens with the toughest assignment.
On defense, Pickens was glued to star guard Bryce Pope of the Tritons. The redshirt senior is an elite scorer, but Pickens looked to disrupt him from the get-go. As Pope’s teammates looked to get him the ball, Pickens’s sticky off-ball defense would force them to look elsewhere. Pickens turned defense into offense with a corner triple to put the Highlanders on the board.
On offense, UCR looked to push the pace with every opportunity. After each defensive rebound, forwards Kyle Owens and Kaleb Smith looked to find the quick outlet pass to either Isaiah Moses or Barrington Hargress. The strategy came with a mixed bag of results. While the Highlanders were able to get some easy buckets in transition, they were often prone to turning over the ball.
After subbing out Moses, Magpayo and the Highlanders abandoned this tactic. They looked to play a more traditional half-court offense through redshirt freshman Barrington Hargress. Hargress’s playmaking created a multitude of scoring opportunities. However, his teammates failed to make the most out of these chances. With UCR shooting just 22% from the field, the Highlanders were lucky to find themselves down just eight going into halftime. It was evident that shots would have to fall if they were to keep up with the high-flying Tritons.
After the break, UCSD’s offense erupted to start the second half. A trio of 3-pointers from the Tritons forced Magpayo to burn a timeout early. The Highlanders quickly found themselves down by 15. Coming out of the timeout, UCR needed to turn the tide in any way possible. Despite being down by double digits, the Highlanders continued to work hard on both ends of the floor.
Fortunately, they would soon be rewarded for their effort. After Pickens intercepted a pass from junior Hayden Gray, it sparked a powerful fastbreak dunk for Kaleb Smith. Smith’s rim-rocking jam and a corner triple from Moses appeared to get the Highlanders right back into it.
However, while the Tritons kept making their shots, UCR failed to find a consistent offensive rhythm. Following a 3-pointer from UCSD’s redshirt senior J’Raan Brooks, the Highlanders were looking for a quick response. But their eagerness led to silly mistakes. Hargress dribbled the ball off his leg and out of bounds. Then, Smith air-balled a wide-open corner three.
As the UCR momentum ground to a halt, junior Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones turned into a walking bucket in the second half. While Pickens continued to shut down Pope, it opened the door for Tait-Jones to lead the UCSD offense. He scored at will and got to the rim whenever he pleased. Magpayo tried using different defenders on Tait-Jones, but he proved to be a matchup nightmare. Too big for most guards and too fast for most forwards, Tait-Jones made it look easy on every offensive possession.
Nevertheless, the Highlanders wouldn’t go down with a whimper. With just minutes remaining, 6 feet Barrington Hargress flashed the athleticism and dunked on 6 feet 5 inches junior Tyler McGhie. Hargress’s poster dunk got the home crowd back into it and gave his team a sliver of hope. However, a triple from Hudson Gray on the very next possession put the game out of reach.
Following a four-game winning streak, the Highlanders fell flat at home against one of the top teams in the conference. Despite Pickens’s strong defensive outing holding Pope to just 4 points, the Highlanders failed to overcome their shooting woes. Off the back of Tait-Jones’s 20 points, the Tritons walked away with a 77-65 win.
On Saturday, UCR faced a quick turnaround on the road against Cal Poly. Despite a 35-point performance from Cal Poly guard Kobe Sanders, the Highlanders left San Luis Obispo with an 84-78 win. Next weekend, they will return home to host the Rainbow Warriors on Mar. 2.
