Despite the destructiveness of the Pacific Palisades wildfires, today’s basketball game between visiting Hawaii and host UC Riverside is expected to be played as scheduled, UCR officials said Wednesday.
Riverside, which is about 75 miles from Pacific Palisades, endured strong winds but no smoke from the fires that have scorched about 16,000 acres along the Los Angeles coast.
This will be a key matchup for both teams. UCR added a top rim protector to a roster that featured several prominent returnees.
“Really talented veteran team in a landscape that doesn’t have a lot of veteran teams,” UH coach Eran Ganot said of the Highlanders, who are 10-6 overall and 3-1 in the Big West.
The Highlanders have succeeded despite the 34th hardest nonconference schedule among 352 Division I programs. Entering the halfway point of their regular season, the Highlanders played 10 of their 16 games on the road, including three in a row to open the season. After struggling to finish off close games a year ago, the Highlanders have won five games by four points or fewer this season.
“What you’re seeing is growth,” UCR coach Mike Magpayo said. “These guys have learned how to win. That’s what we’re pleased with. They find a way to win.”
For several seasons, the Highlanders were built around a quick point guard and an imposing center. While they continue to fill the lane with tall posts — centers Joel Armotrading and Jack Whitbourn and forwards Kaleb Smith and Rikus Schulte — the Highlanders are at their best with a three-guard lineup of Barrington Hargress, Nate Pickens and Isaiah Moses.
Hargress, who is 6 feet, was named the 2024 Big West’s freshman of the year. This season, Hargress averages 19.4 points, including a league-best 21.0 points per Big West game. In league play, his assist-to-turnover ratio is 3-to-1.
“You can see the improvement,” Ganot said of Hargress. “More versatile, better shooting. The confidence has always been there, (the) late-second belief. He’s tough, gets to the rim (team-best 61 free throws). Really high assist-turnover ratio at a really important position.”
Magpayo likened Hargress to former UCR point guard Zyon Pullin, who was named to the All-Big West first team in 2023. After using the COVID-19 exemption year to transfer to Florida, Pullin was selected to the 2024 All-SEC first team.
“I’ve been blessed to have Zyon Pullin and now Barrington Hargress, who’s a stud,” Magpayo said. “Overall, Barrington has been having a great year. He does things that I’m like, ‘Wow.’ We put him up there in the echelon of Zyon Pullin as the best guards that have ever played here.”
Hargress, Pickens and Moses have mastered navigating ball screens, staples of the Highlanders’ half-court sets. But they also are skilled at disrupting opponents’ offensive flow. In previous years, the Highlanders would funnel opponents to the rim protectors. Armotrading, a 6-10 transfer from Cal Poly who averages 1.3 blocks per game, has the lateral quickness to defend the baseline while allowing the guards to press the perimeter shooters.
“We’re more aggressive (at the point of attack) instead of just funneling it to the rim,” Magpayo said.
To counter, UH wing Ryan Rapp said, “you have to take on the challenge when they pressure the ball like that. … Setting the tone and not letting them dictate what you do is an important thing.
‘Do It For KO’
On the day of the regular-season finale last March, UCR senior forward Kyle Owens learned he had acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of cancer in which the bone marrow produces too many white cells.
“He’s been in a fight ever since,” said Magpayo, adding that Owens is in need of a bone-marrow transplant. “He’s had some good days, some bad days. … Our whole team and program and whole Big West are working hard to finding him a match.”
The Big West, in cooperation with NMDP, a leader in cell therapy, launched “Do It For KO,” a campaign encouraging people to sign up as a possible donor. During UCR games, fans between ages 18 and 40 are asked to consider texting “DOITFORKO” to 61474 to receive a complimentary cheek swab to determine their genetic type, be added to the NMDP registry and eventually be matched with a patient.
Ganot, who spearheads the Hawaii chapter of Coaches vs. Cancer has pledged the ’Bows’ help.
BIG WEST BASKETBALL
At SRC Arena in Riverside, Calif.
Hawaii (9-5, 1-2 BW) at UC Riverside (10-6, 3-1 BW)
>> When: Today, 5 p.m.
>> TV: None
>> Radio: 1420-AM, 92.7-FM
>> Streaming: ESPN+
