# UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball

The UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team represents the University of California, Riverside in Riverside, California, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Big West Conference and is led by coach Mike Magpayo. The Highlanders play their home games at the Student Recreation Center Arena. The program had its greatest success as a Division II program, making it to three Final Fours and the national title game in 1995.
In 2020, the future of the program was placed into doubt, as UC Riverside's leadership reportedly began considering cutting the university's entire athletics department in response to financial strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in May 2021, the university announced that they had decided against eliminating athletics and will continue competing at the NCAA Division I level in all sports, thus saving the men's basketball program from extinction.

## Postseason
### NCAA Division II Tournament results

The Highlanders appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament 17 times (named the College Division Tournament until 1973). Their combined record was 29–18.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 1970 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight Final Four National 3rd-place game | Boise State Puget Sound Saint Joseph's (IN) Philadelphia Textile Buffalo State | W 83–71 W 83–71 W 82–77 L 63–79 W 94–83 |
| 1972 | Regional semifinals Regional 3rd-place game | Seattle Pacific UC Irvine | L 63–68 W 94–75 |
| 1973 | Regional Quarterfinals Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight | Somona State Puget Sound Cal State Bakersfield Brockport State | W 70–68 W 71–51 W 61–54 L 70–79 |
| 1974 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight | Chico State Somona State New Orleans | W 62–51 W 71–56 L 78–83 |
| 1975 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight | UC Davis Puget Sound New Orleans | W 78–77 W 59–58 L 59–73 |
| 1979 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals | San Diego Puget Sound | W 62–48 L 52–77 |
| 1980 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight | Puget Sound Cal Poly SLO North Alabama | W 65–61 W 62–53 L 69–76 |
| 1984 | Regional semifinals Regional 3rd-place game | San Francisco State Chapman | L 57–65 W 74–71 |
| 1986 | Regional semifinals Regional 3rd-place game | Alaska-Anchorage Cal Poly SLO | L 83–86 W 55–53 |
| 1988 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals | St. Cloud State Ferris State | W 78–71 L 64–80 |
| 1989 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight Final Four National 3rd-place game | Somona State Cal State Bakersfield Millersville Southeast Missouri State Jacksonville State | W 79–65 W 63–60 W 92–86 L 83–84 $^{OT}$ W 90–81 |
| 1990 | Regional semifinals Regional 3rd-place game | Central Missouri State Humboldt State | L 59–69 L 70–71 |
| 1991 | Regional semifinals Regional 3rd-place game | Cal State Bakersfield Chico State | L 52–75 W 90–82 |
| 1992 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals | Grand Canyon Cal State Bakersfield | W 74–61 L 70–72 $^{OT}$ |
| 1994 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals | San Francisco State Cal State Bakersfield | W 78–61 L 62–75 |
| 1995 | Regional semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game | UC Davis Seattle Pacific Morningside Indiana (PA) Southern Indiana | W 84–66 W 74–68 W 71–58 W 73–69 L 63–71 |
| 1997 | Regional Quarterfinals | Montana State-Billings | L 86–97 |

## Season-by-season results

Statistics overview :
| Season | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing |
| John Masi (Big West Conference) (2001–2005) ||||||
| 2001–02 | John Masi | 8–18 | 5–13 | 9th |
| 2002–03 | John Masi | 6–18 | 5–13 | 9th |
| 2003–04 | John Masi | 11-17 | 7–11 | T-5th |
| 2004–05 | John Masi | 9–19 | 4–14 | 9th |
| Masi: | Masi: | 34–72 (.321) | 21–51 (.292) | |
| David Spencer (Big West Conference) (2005–2006) ||||||
| 2005–06 | David Spencer | 5–23 | 3–11 | 8th |
| Spencer: | Spencer: | 5–23 (.179) | 3–11 (.214) | |
| Vonn Webb (Big West Conference) (2006–2007) ||||||
| 2006–07 | Vonn Webb | 7–24 | 1–13 | 8th |
| Webb: | Webb: | 7–24 (.226) | 1–13 (.071) | |
| Jim Wooldridge (Big West Conference) (2007–2014) ||||||
| 2007–08 | Jim Wooldridge | 9–21 | 4–12 | 7th |
| 2008–09 | Jim Wooldridge | 17–13 | 8–8 | T-4th |
| 2009–10 | Jim Wooldridge | 12–17 | 5–11 | T-9th |
| 2010–11 | Jim Wooldridge | 12–19 | 6–10 | T-7th |
| 2011–12 | Jim Wooldridge | 14–17 | 7–9 | 5th |
| 2012–13 | Jim Wooldridge | 6–25 | 3–15 | 10th |
| Wooldridge: | Wooldridge: | 70–112 (.385) | 33–65 (.337) | |
| Dennis Cutts (Big West Conference) (2013–2018) ||||||
| 2013–14 | Dennis Cutts | 10–21 | 5–11 | 8th |
| 2014–15 | Dennis Cutts | 14–17 | 7–9 | 6th |
| 2015–16 | Dennis Cutts | 14–19 | 5–11 | 6th |
| 2016–17 | Dennis Cutts | 7–21 | 5–11 | 8th |
| 2017–18 | Dennis Cutts | 9–22 | 4–12 | 7th |
| Cutts: | Cutts: | 54–100 (.351) | 26–54 (.325) | |
| David Patrick (Big West Conference) (2018–2020) ||||||
| 2018–19 | David Patrick | 10–23 | 4–12 | 8th |
| 2019–20 | David Patrick | 17–15 | 7–9 | 6th |
| Patrick: | Patrick: | 27–38 (.415) | 11–21 (.344) | |
| Mike Magpayo (Big West Conference) (2020–present) ||||||
| 2020–21 | Mike Magpayo | 14–8 | 8-4 | 3rd |
| 2021–22 | Mike Magpayo | 16–12 | 9-6 | 6th |
| 2022–23 | Mike Magpayo | 21–11 | 14-6 | 3rd |
| Magpayo: | Magpayo: | 51–31 (.622) | 31-16 (.660) | |
| Total: | Total: | 249-402 (.382) | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||