The University of California, Riverside (UCR) played one of their best games of the season on Saturday night at the Student Recreation Center Arena, defeating UC San Diego 85-81 in a thriller. Barrington Hargress set a new school record with 40 points. 

In the previous two games, before playing UC San Diego, Hargress was a combined 11/40 from the field and didn’t look like himself offensively. He shared, “Those two [previous] games were tough, but now I’m just happy I can provide for my team when they need me.”

When the game tipped off against the Tritons, he was dialed in from the jump, notching 25 points while going 5/5 from downtown in the first half. Hargress continued to be aggressive in the second half, and finished with a 40-piece on 14/22 shooting.

Barrington Hargress courtesy UCR Athletics

Following the game, Hargress explained, “I just try to stay consistent. I got a great group of guys behind me. They uplift me to anything I can do possible. They believe in me and that’s really all I need … This is really all a team effort.” 

The Highlanders went into halftime with a 44-35 lead against UCSD, but the Tritons wouldn’t go away without a fight. Senior guard Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones consistently attacked the basket early in the second half, putting the pressure on the UCR bigs. He finished with 32 points on 9/18 shooting and 14/17 from the charity stripe. 

Joel Armotrading was the most effective defender when guarding Tait-Jones, despite barely ever leaving the paint. His defense was paramount for the Highlanders to come out on top against the Tritons, and he notched a double double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. 

UCSD’s Tyler McGhie struggled from beyond the arc, as he went 0/9 from downtown. He entered the game having made 68 3-pointers on the season, which leads the conference. Nate Pickens was the primary defender on McGhie and he did a solid job preventing the sharpshooter from creating open shots throughout the game. Pickens also had 15 points on 5/9 shooting and 4/6 from downtown. 

Coming down the stretch, UCR was able to maintain the lead for the final 7:45 of the game. Hargress scored eight of UCR’s final 20 points, and the game was sealed by a Kaleb Smith free throw. 

UCR’s next game will be at home against UC Irvine on Thursday night. Tune in at 7 p.m. on KUCR 88.3 FM for coverage of the game. 

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