On Thursday night, the University of California, Riverside (UCR) men’s basketball team edged out Big West rival, the University of California, Davis (UCD), 60-58. Junior guard Nate Pickens drilled the game-winning three-pointer, with just 4.3 seconds left on the game clock.

Pickens hadn’t logged a single point for most of the night, but his 3-pointer to put UCR ahead in the dying moments was by far the biggest basket of the game.

Courtesy Elena Versage / The Highlander

After the game, UCR head coach Mike Magpayo shared, “We did want the ball in Barrington’s hands, and we wanted him to penetrate [the defense] from that right angle, see if we can get something. And he did, he drew [in] the defense.”

When the Aggies defense collapsed on Hargress, they left Nate Pickens wide open in the corner.

Whether it be a chase down block or his alley-oop slam against the Anteaters, Pickens often wows the crowd with an incredible display of athleticism. But last Thursday, the junior guard proved he was ready to take the big shot when his team needed him the most.

Pickens expressed, “It came down to the wire. [Hargress] said don’t pass up nothing, so I knew he was gonna kick it out. I just had to stay ready.”

Senior guard TY Johnson had a chance to retake the lead for the Aggies, but his buzzer-beating three-point attempt was too strong. With the win, the Highlanders improved to 7-3 in the Big West and rose to third in the conference standings. Leapfrogging UCD in the process.

Courtesy Elena Versage / The Highlander

The main storyline going into the contest was the head-to-head matchup between UCR’s redshirt sophomore guard Barrington Hargress and Johnson. Both star guards entered Thursday’s game leading the Big West in scoring.

However, both players were having a hard time putting the ball in the basket. Johnson finished with 20 points, but was inefficient shooting just 8/25 from the field. Pickens may have inadvertently overshadowed his defensive accomplishments with his clutch triple, but the Arizona native was the primary defender on Johnson.

Hargress also started slow offensively. He was making plenty of plays on the defensive end with his high basketball IQ. Often poking away the backdoor pass the Aggies were looking for all night. Hargress played a more all-around game and finished with nine points and five assists, but his slow start allowed UCD to jump out to an early 8-1 lead.

The Highlanders appeared sluggish and failed to find an answer for UCD’s zone defense. . It seemed as if the Aggies might run away with it until Magpayo subbed in his energy guys, redshirt junior guard Gavin Davis and sophomore forward Rikus Schulte.

Both Davis and Schulte made instant impacts coming off the bench. First, Schulte shook the rim with a pair of dunks to get the crowd going. Then within a minute, Davis got two steals and seven points. Davis’s corner triple forced the Aggies to burn a timeout as UCR fans and players got out of their seats.

Davis and Schulte each don’t get a lot of playing time, but they flipped this game on its head. With the Aggies playing a grittier style of basketball, Magpayo wasn’t shocked to see Davis seize the moment.

Magpayo noted, “Gavin Davis is an elite defender. He’s still learning and figuring it out, and he’s just been biding his time, and he had a really good week of practice, and we knew that he would be a guy that we could put on TY [Johnson] for a little bit. I’m never more proud than when a guy who’s been working his butt off comes in and gets to showcase what he can do, and it was a big moment, seven points, and those points proved very valuable.”

Unlike the previous three games in which the Highlanders scored over 80 points, the Aggies held UCR to just 60 points. Nevertheless, Magpayo was pleased by his team’s performance and their ability to win a game in this manner.

Magpayo further elaborated, “To win one of these grittier defensive battles is a testament to what these guys can do and sometimes they can get hot. We know that [we’ve] been in the last three games offensively, but tonight, they stood their ground and did the job on the defensive end.”

After beating the Aggies 60-58, the Highlanders hosted California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), who entered the matchup 2-8 in the conference. Following a string of close games, UCR blew out the Mustangs 80-62. Hargress dropped 20 points in just 27 minutes while senior center Joel Armotrading added another ten points and eight rebounds against his old team.

The win against Cal Poly makes it five in a row for the Highlanders. UCR currently sits in third in the Big West with a 8-3 record. They have the opportunity to move into second place on Thursday on the road against the 8-2 University of California, San Diego.

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