Riverside—Taylor Johns scored a season-high 28 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds Saturday afternoon as the UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team improved to 6-4 following a 78-67 win over Houston Baptist. Those 17 rebounds are the second most in the Division I history of the program behind Vili Morton's 20, which he secured against Long Beach State on February 2, 2002.

The Highlanders led for virtually the entire game, but the Huskies hung close for most of the way. Leading by two, 22-20, with 5:18 to go in the first, UCR scored 15 of the final 20 points to take a 12-point lead into the locker room. Johns scored 7 of the Highlanders' 15 points during the run, and finished the first with an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Alex Larsson added 10 points and five boards as UC Riverside enjoyed a 25-11 advantage on the glass, and a 20-10 edge in points in the paint.

The Highlanders scored the first five points of the second half to go up 17, 42-25, and appeared on the verge of running away with the game, but Houston Baptist (4-5) began to slowly climb back in. With 12:51 on the clock, the Huskies cut the lead to single digits on a Josh Ibarra jumper, and a pair of Russell Tyler free throws nearly two minutes later made it a six-point game, 49-43.

UCR went nearly five minutes without scoring during the stretch, but Steven Thornton's free throw at the 10:08 mark ended the run. That sparked a 9-2 Highlanders spurt that increased the UC Riverside lead to double figures once again, and the Huskies never got closer than 10 the remainder of the way.

Johns scored 17 of his 28 points in the second half making nine of 10 shots from the free throw line, while Steven Jones added 10 points and five boards over the final 20 minutes.

The Highlanders are on the road this Monday, December 22 at San Diego State for an 8 pm PT tip.