Three years ago, UC Riverside athletics faced an iffy future.
“We came out of it,” UCR basketball coach Mike Magpayo said of the financial constraints that coincided with the start of the pandemic, “and now it’s not a threat anymore. Things are continuing to grow and (the administration has) invested in us.”
The Highlanders won the 2022 Big West men’s soccer title (and accompanying berth in the NCAA Tournament).
UCR went on a basketball tour of Australia last summer. And entering today’s home game against Hawaii, Magpayo’s Highlanders are atop the Big West basketball standings.
“I’m really proud to be part of this growth phase,” Magpayo said. “I benefited from it, and our team is benefiting from it.”
It was supposed to be a season of adjustments. The Highlanders added nine newcomers and for the first time in two seasons were without an imposing 7-foot-1 center as a cul-de-sac in the lane. Zyon Pullin, the league’s top point guard, also missed five Big West games because of an injury.
But the Highlanders were able to refocus their funnel vision of steering opposing ball-handlers toward the rim protectors and found collective replacements for Pullin in sprinting to a 7-1 start in the Big West.
“This is a 20-game, regular-season race and … so far, so good.” Magpayo said. “I’m really pleased with it.”
Two seasons ago, the Highlanders planted center Jock Perry in the post. Last season, Callum McRae served as the dead end.
“We had a big human in the back,” Magpayo said of the previous two seasons. “We funneled everything to him, and that’s what made our defense. We’re not as good defensively as we’ve been the past two years, probably because of the lack of size at the rim.”
But Kyle Owens, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Montana, has four double-doubles this season, and 6-10 Lachlan Olbrich is averaging 10.8 points and 7.4 rebounds in eight Big West games.
“They’ve made us versatile offensively,” Magpayo said. “It’s give and take. We lost a little bit of rim protection defensively, but we have a little more offensive punch and play a little bit faster than we ever had.”
Pullin was leading the league in scoring when he suffered an injury after scoring 22 points against Long Beach State on New Year’s Eve.
Jamal Hartwell II, a transfer from George Mason, and Flynn Cameron, who switched from DePaul in 2021, led the Highlanders in Pullin’s absence. Hartwell’s play-making was so crisp many observers did not realize that Camerson was at the point. Pullin returned to the lineup on Thursday — at point guard.
“It would be foolish not to put him back to his original position,” Magpayo said. “I think he’s the best point guard in the league. He continues to get better. His leadership has become top notch this year. He can penetrate. He can finish at the rim. He can make all the reads, all the passes with both his right and left hand. That’s what makes him a top guard. He has burst going right and left. He can make all the ball-screen reads.”
On Thursday, Pullin hit the decisive shot with 2.6 seconds left in UCR’s 74-72 victory over UC Davis. It was his third game-winner of the season. “He’s used to it,” Magpayo said of Pullin, who is averaging 18.8 points on 52% shooting, including 50% on 3s.
The Highlanders’ start has correlated to a more enthusiastic student section in the Student Recreation Center. “The last two years it’s just grown and grown,” Magpayo said, “and now (fans) know there’s a good program building at the university.”
