Wednesday, February 20
Riverside, CA
7:00 PM
University of California, Riverside
85
vs
76
UC Irvine
Men's Basketball Moves Closer To Post-Season Berth With Win Over UC Irvine
2/20/2008 3:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Riverside—UC Riverside beat the visiting UC Irvine Anteaters (11-14, 6-6 Big West) 85-76 at the Student Rec Center Wednesday night. Senior Larry Cunningham moved to within 27 points of becoming UCR's all-time leading scorer with his 21 points and the Highlanders (6-17, 3-9 Big West) remained in the driver seat for the final spot in the Big West tournament.
UCR had four players finish in double-figures as junior Christian Soto matched his career-high he set the previous game with 13 points. Juniors Cleavon Barlow and Severin Gates each finished with 10 points a piece for the Highlanders who won the battle down low, using a 34-20 rebound advantage to score 42 points from inside the paint on the night.
Riverside jumped out to an early 7-4 lead and then opened it up to 21-6 after producing a 14-2 run capped by sophomore Sean Cunningham's free-throw following his layup during which he was fouled, to complete a three point play. The lead would stay in double digits for the rest of the half as Larry Cunningham's jumper in the final seconds gave the Highlanders a 16-point lead at the half.
UCR put together a 15-for-28 (53.6%) first-half shooting effort and the defense limited the Anteaters to 7-of-20 (35.0%) shooting to take a 37-21 lead at the break. Eight Highlanders recorded baskets in the first 20 minutes as the Riverside "D" forced 11 UCI turnovers and had outscored the Anteaters with points in the paint, 22-8.
Both teams traded baskets for the first 10 minutes of the second half before Irvine started to knock down some shots and later forced some turnovers on the defensive end. After junior Aaron Scott's put-back dunk gave the Highlanders a 13-point lead, 61-48 with just under nine minutes remaining, a UCI three-point play by Darren fells on the following possession, cut the UCR lead to 10. Michael Hunter then brought the Anteaters to within single digits with three at the 6:51 mark.
UCI put together a 10-0 run during that span, using another three from Hunter to close the gap to 63-61 with 5:43 to go. After another three by UCI, this time by Brett Lauer who knocked down seven threes on the game tp finish with a game-high 25 points, cut the Riverside lead to just one, 70-69, with 3:11 left on the clock. The Highlanders hung tough though, continuing to attack the basket and kept their lead by making their free-throws.
The Anteaters were forced to pressure and UCR passed their way through the press and converted on some layups. They would finish the game by knocking down 11 of their final 13 free-throw attempts to pick up the victory. The Highlanders shot a season-best 29-of-50 (58.0%) from the floor and made a season-high 24-of-35 from the charity stripe. UCI suffered the loss despite putting up 55 points and shooting 19-29 (65.5%) in the second half.
UCR will next play this Saturday when they host Hawaii for the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBuster game in the Student Rec Center set for 5:00 p.m.
UCR had four players finish in double-figures as junior Christian Soto matched his career-high he set the previous game with 13 points. Juniors Cleavon Barlow and Severin Gates each finished with 10 points a piece for the Highlanders who won the battle down low, using a 34-20 rebound advantage to score 42 points from inside the paint on the night.
Riverside jumped out to an early 7-4 lead and then opened it up to 21-6 after producing a 14-2 run capped by sophomore Sean Cunningham's free-throw following his layup during which he was fouled, to complete a three point play. The lead would stay in double digits for the rest of the half as Larry Cunningham's jumper in the final seconds gave the Highlanders a 16-point lead at the half.
UCR put together a 15-for-28 (53.6%) first-half shooting effort and the defense limited the Anteaters to 7-of-20 (35.0%) shooting to take a 37-21 lead at the break. Eight Highlanders recorded baskets in the first 20 minutes as the Riverside "D" forced 11 UCI turnovers and had outscored the Anteaters with points in the paint, 22-8.
Both teams traded baskets for the first 10 minutes of the second half before Irvine started to knock down some shots and later forced some turnovers on the defensive end. After junior Aaron Scott's put-back dunk gave the Highlanders a 13-point lead, 61-48 with just under nine minutes remaining, a UCI three-point play by Darren fells on the following possession, cut the UCR lead to 10. Michael Hunter then brought the Anteaters to within single digits with three at the 6:51 mark.
UCI put together a 10-0 run during that span, using another three from Hunter to close the gap to 63-61 with 5:43 to go. After another three by UCI, this time by Brett Lauer who knocked down seven threes on the game tp finish with a game-high 25 points, cut the Riverside lead to just one, 70-69, with 3:11 left on the clock. The Highlanders hung tough though, continuing to attack the basket and kept their lead by making their free-throws.
The Anteaters were forced to pressure and UCR passed their way through the press and converted on some layups. They would finish the game by knocking down 11 of their final 13 free-throw attempts to pick up the victory. The Highlanders shot a season-best 29-of-50 (58.0%) from the floor and made a season-high 24-of-35 from the charity stripe. UCI suffered the loss despite putting up 55 points and shooting 19-29 (65.5%) in the second half.
UCR will next play this Saturday when they host Hawaii for the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBuster game in the Student Rec Center set for 5:00 p.m.
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