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 their head coach is Gus Argenal, who is in his first year with the program. 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.

UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball
2024–25 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team
University	University of California, Riverside
Head coach	Gus Argenal (1st season)
Conference	Big West
Location	Riverside, California
Arena	Student Recreation Center Arena (capacity: 3,168)
Nickname	Highlanders
Colors	Blue and gold[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA tournament runner-up
Division II: 1995
Other NCAA tournament results Final Four Division II: 1970, 1989, 1995 Elite Eight Division II: 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1989, 1995 Sweet Sixteen Division II: 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1995 Appearances Division II: 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997

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,^[2][3] thus saving the men's basketball program from extinction.

Postseason

NIT results

The Highlanders have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) one time. Their record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2025	First Round	Santa Clara	L 62–101

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	Postseason
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:		34–72 (.321)	21–51 (.292)
David Spencer (Big West Conference) (2005–2006)
2005–06	David Spencer	5–23	3–11	8th
Spencer:		5–23 (.179)	3–11 (.214)
Vonn Webb (Big West Conference) (2006–2007)
2006–07	Vonn Webb	7–24	1–13	8th
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:		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:		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:		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
2023–24	Mike Magpayo	16–18	10–10	T–5th
2024–25	Mike Magpayo	21–13	14–6	T–3rd	NIT First round
Magpayo:		89–63 (.586)	55–32 (.632)
Total:		286–433 (.398)
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