Why Mike Magpayo and UC Riverside believe they can "make some magic happen" this season

The college basketball experience is unique on every level of the sport, and the drastic shift in perspective between schools like UC Riverside and BYU makes their non-conference matchup all the more fascinating. Facing the other from opposing sides of the court, the Highlanders and the Cougars share the same playing surface, yet exist in different worlds.

Both teams have stuffed their rosters with a healthy mix of players from across the nation and around the globe, spanning from Serbia, to Russia, Australia to England, and Mali to, well, Australia again.

UC Riverside is expected to battle for a Big West title this season, while BYU hopes to finish in the top half of the Big 12. And though the Cougars may finish 9th in league standings, a bid to the NCAA Tournament is nearly inevitable. The same fate isn't nearly as certain for Riverside, a Big West team fated to miss the Big Dance if their dance card isn't stamped with a conference championship, regardless of regular season success.

BYU basketball is enjoying a rise so sudden, you'd believe that the Marriott Center had installed rocket thrusters under the foundation, with an embarrassment of four-star recruits--and a sprinkling of 5-stars--that would have been completely out of character only one season ago.

"Let me tell you what, BYU looked untouchable the other night," UC Riverside head coach Mike Magpayo told me on Friday afternoon, "We played a Creighton team that was number 8 in the country a couple of years ago, and I thought Utah was ridiculously talented, and Washington State, I put this BYU team up there with any of those guys just as far as talent across the board.”

In the non-conference schedule, it's common practice for teams from power conferences like the Big 12 to set matchups with smaller athletic programs on the rise. While these matchups can make the non-conference slate a bore for the likes of Duke, North Carolina, and Kentucky, if you flip your perspective for a moment, you'll realize that the "little guys" that populate your favorite team's first 10 games are facing a merciless gauntlet of road battles with titans.

Coach Magpayo and the Highlanders fell in a hard-fought season opener against Oregon. Coach feels that the final result doesn't reflect how jaw-clenching that clash felt from the tip-off.

"Our backcourt is really strong and all four of [our returning starters] scored double digits in our first game at Oregon," Coach Magpayo eagerly insisted while recalling the season opener, "It’s really cool to put the product on the floor, we just had a bad little stretch there in the first half. [...] We had 6 turnovers in the last five minutes [of the first half]. I think they were the most talented team we’ll play this year other than BYU if I’m being honest."

Coach described his team as being "weapon for weapon" with the Ducks in Knight Arena, and a quick glance at the game story would paint an agreeing image for you, as the Highlanders matched the Ducks' scoring output for the second half, and were even ahead of their Big 10 warmup for the first 10 minutes of the game.

Though they fell short in game one, this team has plenty to look forward to in what will be a difficult non-conference slate.

The road didn't end after their fistfight with Oregon, and it won't stop after BYU. UC Riverside still has a death match scheduled with each of Santa Clara, Colorado State, and UNLV left on their docket.

"We always play a tough non-conference schedule for a variety of reasons–fundraising being one of them–but in the end, it’s about playing your best basketball in February and March and I think we’ve done that for the last 3 years actually, and we’ve been very strong down the stretch, which is always the goal."

Despite their final record of 16-18, UCR sprinted through an 8-3 finish down the final stretch of the 2023-24 season, thanks in large part to a roster that started two freshmen and two sophomores, all of which have returned to join the Highlanders for another season.

That kind of cohesion is rare at the higher levels of college hoops, but Riverside believes their continuity is a testament to the strength of the team's culture, values, and unity.

"I think what’s really telling about our program," the Highlander coach explained, "as we build this over the last… I’ve been head coach going on my fifth year, we’ve had four straight winning seasons before last year, but we’ve had one undergraduate transfer in my time as head coach. So these guys stick for whatever reason."

This year, those undergraduate starters are now a quartet of sophomores and juniors who feel prepared to make a run at the NCAA Tournament in March. Among those hoopers is Barrington Hargress, arguably the most talented player on this UCR roster.

Dropping a team-high 20 points in Eugene, Hargress should be a focus of BYU's game plan in this meeting. The Cougars will likely give the young guard a chaotic variety of looks in this meeting, and the Highlanders' 6'0" point guard will have his hands full with the defense's length in this one.

I could compare Hargess to a Jamal Shead-type. Shead's leadership and poise both on and off the court spearheaded a deadly Houston team last season. A sturdy 6'0" guard like Shead or Hargress can often be overlooked due to their size, but as Shead proved last year with Houston and now with the Toronto Raptors, underestimating these players could spell disaster for your squad.

You realize that the greatest Jedi who ever lived was like 2 feet tall, right? Yoda would give LeBron work on the basketball court, no doubt.

So what makes Hargress so dangerous to BYU? According to Magpayo, it's his persistent and rapid development as a 1.

"Number one, he’s a true point guard," he framed in reference to Hargress, "and he’s a two-way player. He’ll defend, rebound, and he was one of the best at taking care of the ball last year. He had a 3.5 to 1 assist-to-turnover average, had over 12 points a game, and just had some really dynamic moments throughout conference [play]. I think where he’s really grown this offseason is his shooting ability and that was on display against Oregon."

“Unfortunately in that second half, he was cramping. That’s why after he had 15 in the first half, he only ended up with 20."

From coach's viewpoint, Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings won't be the only players in this game to play NBA minutes in the future.

"I know Demin’s gonna be in the NBA one day, [but] I won’t be surprised if we find Barrington Hargress there somehow. He doesn’t have the measurables, but he plays strong and he’s good. He’s very good.”

A scoring threat, an offensive orchestrator, and an all-out defender, Barrington leads this team with more impact players like Isaiah Moses and Josh Pickens, a three-headed monster that will terrorize the BYU defense for 30 minutes of game time.

A key to the Highlanders' success over the past 5 seasons has been their ability to clean the glass on the defensive end--cut off an offensive possession with a single shot attempt and push the ball up the floor in a flash.

In my conversation with Coach Magpayo, he made it clear that defensive rebounding is a point of emphasis for his teams at UCR. "I think the story of the [Oregon] game was getting crushed on the boards," he assessed, "And that’s just not something that in my four years as head coach we’ve been as high as 5th in the country and the lowest we’ve been is 37th in defensive rebounding, so that’s something that we’ve got to get done against this length and athleticism tomorrow night somehow.”

That length and athleticism is a sticking point for UCR as they prepare for a battle with the Cougars. Catchings, Saunders, and Keita could be major disruptors in this matchup. Even Dawson Baker, a former Big West foe of Magpayo's with UC Irvine, who coach describes as "a relentless competitor", will take up space in UCR's mind.

But nothing is taking as much processing in Riverside as BYU's superstar point guard, Egor Demin. The Highlanders are well aware of what the Russian is capable of with the ball in his hands, and the coaches' room and locker room alike are buzzing about their chance to take the floor with a lottery pick as talented as Egor.

“We’ve got Australians on the team calling [Demin] Josh Giddey already," Magpayo chuckled, "when I was with the staff I was calling him Doncic or Penny Hardaway. I had to get on my scheduling coach, because gosh dang, man, this kid is good."

UCR and BYU will square off on Friday night in the Marriott Center, and part ways for the remainder of the season. Each team returning to their own worlds and progressing to a goal that is similar in many ways, yet vastly separate in scope.

For Coach Magpayo and the Highlanders, this season is a chance for the seeds planted by last year's team to sprout into an unmapped landscape for UCR's program: the Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.

"We wanna make some magic happen at a place that hadn’t had that before we got here. Six years ago, one winning season in 18 years, but these guys stick around because they want to make the big dance, and there’s something really rewarding about building it from the ground up. I think that tells you a lot about the guys we have in this program."

We'll see if some of that magic can spark in Provo, Utah this weekend.

Please click here for my full, unedited interview with head coach Mike Magpayo.

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