RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Jaylen Bland had 18 points, Secean Johnson added 14 and UC Riverside beat Northern Colorado 77-66 on Thursday night.

Taylor Johns scored 13 and Robert Boezeman 12 for Riverside (5-2), which used a 23-4 run to build a 48-25 advantage at halftime.

Northern Colorado (1-6) chipped away at the deficit early in the second half before the Highlanders had their largest lead at 69-41.

Jordan Davis had 16 of his career-high 22 points in the second half and Jordan Wilson added 18 of his 20 after the break for Northern Colorado. They scored 22 during the Bears' 25-8 run to close the game but they were unable to narrow the gap quickly enough to pose a threat and lost their fifth straight.

The Highlanders are off to their best seven-game start in the program's Division I history which started in the 2001-02 season.