BYU vs. UC Riverside Preview: UCR should provide a slightly tougher test

BYU is 1-0 after a blowout win over Central Arkansas on Tuesday night, and Egor Demin has already moved to the top of the college basketball and NBA draft circles with his 18 points, 11 assists and four steals.

UC Riverside should provide a slightly better test than Central Arkansas did on Tuesday. BYU’s first five games to start the season are very soft, but UC Riverside is the least soft game of the group.

Below are the KenPom rankings of BYU’s first five opponents.

Central Arkansas: 333

UC Riverside: 166

Queens: 298

Idaho: 282

Mississippi Valley State: 364 (lowest rated D1 team)

UC Riverside is the top-rated team by a wide margin, although that’s not saying much.

BYU and UC Riverside in numbers

UC Riverside KenPom: 166

Big West Preseason Coaches Poll: UCR picked 4 of 11 teams

2023-2024 record: 16-18

2024-2025 record: 0-1; 91-76 loss at Oregon

BYU KenPom: 19

Big 12 Preseason Poll: BYU picked 9 of 16 teams

2023–2024 record: 23–11

KenPom Prediction: BYU 85, UCA 66 – BYU 95% chance of winning

Distribution: BYU –20.5

Total score: 152.5

UC Riverside overview

UC Riverside returns an experienced team that is picked to finish in the top four in the Big West. UCR opened the season with a 91-76 loss at Oregon on Monday night, but was within 7 points with under 6 minutes left before faltering late.

They return their top three scorers from last season and four of five starters. The headliner is 6-foot-10 sophomore guard Barrington Hargress, the reigning Big West Freshman of the Year and named to the Preseason All-Big West Team. Hargress averaged 12.6 points and 4.5 assists last year and dropped 20 points against the Ducks in the season opener on 44% shooting and 4-10 from three.

The other two key players to keep an eye on are Hargress’ backcourt mates Isaiah Moses (averaged 12.2 ppg last season) and Nate Pickens (averaged 9.3 ppg last season). This trio starts in the backcourt and led UCR in scoring last season. UCR’s other starters are 6-foot-9 stretch 4 Kaleb Smith and 6-foot-10 Cal Poly transfer Joel Armotrading.

UC Riverside didn’t shoot the 3-ball particularly well last year with the same core (32% in 2023-2024), but they aren’t afraid to raise it. Last season, they ranked in the top 50 nationally with 43% of their field goal attempts coming from behind the arc and against Oregon, more than half of their shots came from long range.

forecast

BYU should easily take care of the Highlanders, but it will be a good first test for BYU to play against a team that brings its core from last season and has experience playing together.

UC Riverside struggled to make shots last year and I think BYU’s length compared to their undersized backcourt will force tough shots and ultimately lead to a subpar shooting night.

This lack of length in UCR’s backcourt could also mean big nights again for Egor Demin, Kanon Catchings and Richie Saunders. I expect another comfortable win for the Cougars.

Prediction: BYU 87, UCR 62

*Record straight up: 1-0

*Record against the spread: 1-0

* I make a prediction for every game and track my record over the course of the season