This past Monday, the University of California, Riverside (UCR) men’s basketball team opened their season on the road against the University of Oregon. Oregon’s football team is undefeated and currently ranked no. 1 in the country in the Associated Press (AP) poll, and their basketball team is no slouch either.
Last season, the Ducks won the Pac-12 Championship before advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament, knocking off 6-seed South Carolina in the process. The Ducks returned three of their starters from last season and are primed for another strong season.
Meanwhile, UCR brought back most of its core from last season while also adding in talented newcomers from the transfer portal. Bringing in guys like redshirt freshman Parker Strauss from Northwestern and senior Joel Armotrading from Big West rivals California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO). For the Highlanders, they looked to carry on the momentum built from last year’s second half-of-the-season surge.
As the heavy underdog in this matchup, UCR head coach Mike Magpayo had a clear strategy in mind. Magpayo spaced the floor by starting the likes of redshirt sophomore Barrington Hargress, redshirt junior Isaiah Moses and junior Nate Pickens. The Highlanders didn’t want to just shoot more threes than their opponents, they lived and died by the 3 ball. Seven of their first eight shot attempts were behind the arc as the two teams stayed neck and neck throughout the first 10 minutes of the first half.
A pair of dunks and a block from senior center Nate Bittle helped turn the tide in favor of the Ducks. It also didn’t help that Armotrading struggled to find chemistry with his teammates. Often fighting more with his teammates rather than his opponents for rebounds, Armotrading may need more time to adapt to his third team in as many years. He also struggled to run the pick-and-roll effectively with either Hargress or even Moses, his teammate while at Southern Idaho.
UCR’s success this season will heavily depend on Armotrading’s integration into the team. However, the senior center from London displayed his effectiveness while at Southern Idaho and Cal Poly SLO and is poised to do it again for the Highlanders this season.
After a corner triple from sophomore Jackson Shelstad that put the Ducks up by six, the Highlanders called a timeout. Magpayo needed his team to come out of the break with more energy. Instead, it was the Ducks that found new life.
To close out the first half, the Ducks came out in an aggressive full-court press. The Highlanders weren’t able to match Oregon’s intensity and the Ducks forced turnovers and foul calls aplenty. In just a few minutes, they stretched their lead to 15 points going into halftime.
With the crowd now into the game, the Highlanders needed to make something happen sooner rather than later. Fortunately, UCR’s microwave scorer from Anchorage, Alaska started heating up at the right time. Moses started the second half by setting up Armotrading for a two-handed jam with a no-look bounce pass. After hitting a three on the next possession, the redshirt junior guard kept setting up his teammates with easy buckets and making plays on the defensive end.
The Highlanders were able to cut the lead to seven. But after a pair of corner threes from redshirt senior Jadrien Tracy and sophomore Kwame Evans Jr., the Ducks extended their lead to double-digits once again. The Ducks continued to full-court press the Highlanders on occasion. However, the Highlanders had adjusted and were more confident bringing the ball up the court.
Moses and the Highlanders kept battling to the final buzzer, but they couldn’t find the big scoring run they needed to retake the lead. Led by Evans’s 23 points in only 20 minutes, Oregon took this one 91-76.
Apart from a shaky sequence to close out the first half, the Highlanders played up to the Ducks for most of the game. Hargress continued to build off of last season, leading the way with 20 points. Moses, his backcourt partner, finished with a strong 13 points and 7 assists. UCR will need their pair of 2024 All-Big West Honorable Mentions to continue their strong performances throughout the season.
On Friday, the Highlanders had another tough road test against the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars. Like the Ducks, the Cougars also made the NCAA Tournament last season. This season, BYU strengthened their squad with a pair of top high school prospects, Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings.
Nevertheless, the Highlanders represented the Big West well against another strong Power 4 opponent. Smith and Pickens led UCR in scoring with 20 and 18 points respectively. Moses added another 16 points from the bench, but the BYU offense was too much for the Highlanders to handle. Shooting 53.2% from the field, the Cougars took this one 86-80.
Despite dropping their first two games of the season, the Highlanders keep punching above their weight. Early in the season, performances are more important than results. If UCR can build off these two games, the wins will start piling up.
Tonight, UCR will play their next game against rivals Cal Baptist University (CBU) Lancers. Looking to avenge last season’s heartbreaking 70-69 loss, the Highlanders will have extra motivation to pick up their first win of the season.
Tune in at 7 p.m. on KUCR 88.3FM for commentary on the CBU game by Terry Nguyen and Francisco Partida.
