Saturday was a night to remember for UC Riverside men’s basketball star Barrington Hargress. Hargress broke the program’s Division I-era record by scoring 40 points to lift the Highlanders to an 85-81 victory over visiting UC San Diego in a Big West Conference game at the SRC Arena in Riverside. The sophomore guard broke the previous Division I-era record of 39 points, set by Kyle Austin against Cal Poly on Feb. 13, 2010. The program’s overall record of 42 points was set by Dick Barton against La Verne on Jan. 11, 1969. “Barrington Hargress had a special performance,” Highlanders coach Mike Magpayo said in a release from the school. “We challenged him this past week, and he responded in a big way.” Hargress, who graduated from Heritage Christian, made 14 of 22 shots from the field, 5 of 8 from 3-point range and all seven of his free-throw attempts. Hargress is averaging 20.4 points per game, tied for 12th in the nation among Division I players. Hargress’ previous career high was 31 points, set earlier this season against Colorado State. UC Riverside (11-8 overall, 4-3 in Big West) never trailed during Saturday’s game and held off a second-half charge by the Tritons. The Highlanders led by as many as 12 during the second half, but UC San Diego leveled the score at 65 with 8:18 to play. Hargress scored six points in an 8-0 run that helped UCR regain a lead it never relinquished. “Tonight, we showed incredible resilience,” Magpayo said. “We led most of the game and were challenged as a team to respond to their second-half run. As a program, we’ve been emphasizing the importance of staying connected and persevering through opponents’ runs. I thought we did that tonight.” Nate Pickens scored 15 points for UCR, while Joel Armotrading finished with 12 points, a game-high 14 rebounds and three blocks for the Highlanders. Kaleb Smith added 10 points, and Isaiah Moses recorded a game-high 10 assists. Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones tallied 32 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead UC San Diego (15-4, 5-2). Next up for the Highlanders is conference leader UC Irvine on Thursday night at the SRC Arena.