UCR comes up big, knocks off UCI
From staff and wire Reports
UC Riverside men’s basketball coach Mike Magpayo has played UC Irvine enough to know the Anteaters have a weakness.
They struggle to guard big men who can shoot from long range.
Magpayo used that vulnerability to his advantage on Saturday night and Benjamin Griscti followed the game plan, resulting in a surprising 88-78 victory over the Big West Conference leader at SRC Arena.
Griscti, a 6-11 junior transfer from Incarnate Word, shot 6 for 10 from 3-point distance and scored a season-high 26 points for Riverside (10-15 overall, 5-8 Big West), which has won two in a row following a three-game skid.
“We’ve played them for five years and one of their cryptonites is having a shooting 5 man,” Magpayo said. “Ben was a big factor in winning this one and, obviously, a lot of other guys hit shots too.”
Kyle Owens added 16 points for UCR, Isaiah Moses scored 13 points and Nate Pickens finished with 12 points and six assists.
The Anteaters (18-7, 112) knew what to expect from the Highlanders after Griscti scored 18 points against them in a 73-66 win by Irvine on Dec. 28.
UCI started 6-10 freshman Carter Welling to provide more mobility against Griscti and even tried guarding him with 6-6 forward Devin Tillis, but Griscti just posted up on the smaller defender.
“He had his best game of the year in our first game and in this game I didn’t think we competed like we respected that guy,” Irvine coach Russell Turner said of Griscti.
Women
— Dan Aritt
NEBRASKA 82, NO. 2 IOWA 79 >>
Jaz Shelley’s 3-pointer with 30 seconds left gave the host Cornhuskers their first lead as they rallied from a 14-point fourthquarter deficit to defeat the Hawkeyes.
Fans came to Pinnacle Bank Arena hoping to see Iowa’s Caitlin Clark set the NCAA women’s career scoring record on a nationally televised celebration of women’s basketball.
What they got instead was a huge performance by Nebraska (16-8, 8-5 Big Ten), which got its first win over an AP Top 25 opponent this season and first over Iowa (22-3, 11-2) in 10 tries.
Clark scored 31 points but missed her final six shots, including one just before the buzzer. She was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Clark now has 3,520 career points and needs eight more to pass Kelsey Plum’s record of 3,527 for Washington from 2013-17.
Shelley finished with 23 points.
NO.9 UCLA 78, ARIZONA ST. 45 >>
Lauren Betts scored 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting and the Bruins beat the Sun Devils at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA (19-4, 8-4 Pac-12) also got 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists from Charisma Osborne.
The 6-foot-7 Betts was too much down low for Arizona State (10-14, 2-10).
Betts also had seven rebounds before picking up her third foul and sitting down for good with 7:12 to go.
Men
UCLA 61, CALIFORNIA 60 >>
Adem Bona scored 13 points and Dylan Andrews and Lazar Stefanovic each scored 12 as the visiting Bruins held off the Golden Bears on Saturday for their fifth win in a row.
Sebastian Mack made 1 of 2 foul shots for UCLA (13-11, 8-5 Pac-12) with four seconds left for a 61-57 advantage. Jalen Celestine made a 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left that made it a one-point game.
Fardaws Aimaq’s putback off a Jaylon Tyson miss gave Cal (10-14, 6-7) its last lead at 57-56 with 36 seconds remaining. Andrews’ jumper 12 seconds later gave UCLA the lead for good.
STANFORD 99, USC 68
Maxime Raynaud scored 25 points and had nine rebounds and the host Cardinal (12-11, 7-6 Pac-12) made a program-record 19 3-pointers in Saturday night’s rout of the Trojans (9-15, 3-10).
It was a rugged week for men’s teams in the Top 25 with 17 teams taking losses, including No. 11 Wisconsin twice. Each team ranked 16-25 had at least one loss through Saturday night, including Mountain West teams No. 22 Utah State, No. 24 San Diego State, and No. 25 New Mexico. Saturday saw No. 6 Tennessee, No. 10 Illinois, No. 12 Auburn, and No. 13 Baylor all lose among the top 15.
TOP 25 STRUGGLES >>
Inland D-I results
>>
■ UC Riverside’s women lost to host UCI, 62-53, in a Big West game Saturday. Jordan Webster had 16 points for UCR (12-11, 7-6).
■ Chloe Webb had 22 points and seven rebounds, and Filipa Barros had 13 rebounds and seven assists as the California Baptist women’s team defeated visiting Utah Tech, 73-65 in a Western Athletic Conference game. Kinsley Barrington added 19 points and eight rebounds for CBU (19-2, 11-1).
■ CBU’S men’s team lost at Utah Tech, 85-78. Scotty Washington had 20 points for the Lancers (14-9, 7-5).