After winning their first three games in the Big West, UC Riverside dropped back-to-back games against UC Irvine and Hawaii. 

UCR’s road contest at Irvine started strongly, as they led 35-29 at halftime, but the wheels began to fall off as the second half progressed and they lost, 81-57.

“[UC Irvine] had a championship response. They responded with a lot of physicality and purpose, and we just didn’t,” head coach Mike Magpayo commented during a Wednesday practice following the game. UC Irvine’s Justin Hohn led the way with 17 points on 8-14 shooting, and propelled Irvine’s second half surge. 

“[UC Irvine] are champions for a reason and we had to find a way to weather the storm and stop the bleeding … but our inability to get stops [on defense] or hit a timely shot led to a really bad second half,” Barrington Hargress commented during practice. He finished with 20 points against UCI. 

Isaiah Moses takes a jump shot versus Hawaii on January 9th, photo courtesy Elena Versage

Going into the game on Thursday night at the Student Recreation Center (SRC) versus Hawaii, the Highlanders were the favorites to win. The first half was back and forth, with multiple lead changes. UCR led 30-28 heading into the locker room, and both teams continuously traded buckets when the second half resumed. 

Hawaii outscored UCR 22-14 in the final 6:15 minutes of action, and pulled away late to take the victory over the Highlanders, 83-76.

Isaiah Moses led the way for UCR with 26 points against Hawaii coming off the bench. Moses started seven of the first eight games of the season before being moved to the sixth-man position. When asked if he thinks his game opens up on offense more when playing with the second unit, he responded, “[I] think I get a little more opportunities … more chances to be aggressive scoring the ball. I think it’s a different look, for sure.” 

“[Coach and I] talked about it. He didn’t just move me to the bench, it’s something we talked about so it wasn’t a surprise or anything. We just feed off each other’s feedback and thought it was a good move to make.” 

A notable player who struggled for UCR was Barrington Hargress, who came into the Hawaii game as the second leading scorer in the conference. Hargress had 19 points on 6-21 shooting and 2-10 beyond the arc. He struggled to find consistent rhythm on offense throughout the night, and had his lowest shooting percentage of the season in conference play.

Barrington Hargress with the ball, photo courtesy Elena Versage

True freshman center, Jack Whitbourn, made his first career start against Hawaii due to the absence of Joel Armotrading. He’s been a solid rebounding machine for the Highlanders, and has played solid minutes for Magpayo. 

UCR’s next game will be on the road at UCSB on Thursday night. 

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