No. 22 UCLA plays host to Morehead State

Nov 22, 2013 - 3:56 PM Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - As part of regional round action of the Las Vegas Invitational, the No. 22 UCLA Bruins will square off with the Morehead State Eagles at Pauley Pavilion on Friday night.

The Eagles have gotten off to a fast start on the year as they will invade Pauley Pavilion with a record of 4-1. The Eagles won consecutive games for the second time this year as they took down Marshall in overtime (102-94) before defeating Northern Kentucky (74-61) last time out. In the next part of the Classic the Eagles will visit Nevada in Reno.

The Bruins have yet to take a loss in their first three games with wins over Drexel (72-67), Oakland (91-60) and Sacramento State (86-50). Five players scored in double figures and David Wear had a double-double in the Bruins' most recent victory over Sacramento State, their seventh-straight at home dating back to last season. UCLA will have hosting duties yet again in the next leg of the Classic as Chattanooga comes to town on Sunday.

Friday's contest will be the first ever between these programs.

On the road against Northern Kentucky, the Eagles pulled away in the second half to capture the 13-point victory. After shooting at just a 40-percent clip in the first 20 minutes the Eagles improved to 47.1 percent in the second frame, while also holding the Norse to just eight second-half field goals.

Despite shooting just 42 percent from the floor, the Eagles have been scoring at an impressive rate this year, netting 82 points per game. They have also done solid work on the glass, ranking among the top 50 teams in the country in rebounds (42.6 pg). Angelo Warner (17.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg) makes his biggest impact on the offensive end as the team's leading scorer. Warner had one of his best games of the year against NKU as he tied a season-high with 25 points, while collecting nine rebounds. Chad Posthumus (9.8 ppg, 11.8 rpg) is nearly averaging a double-double after pulling down 16 rebounds to go with six points against NKU. Bakari Turner (13.5 ppg) is a valuable scorer off the bench, while Brent Arrington (12.2 ppg) also adds scoring depth.

Jordan Adams scored 21 points for UCLA in its win over Sacramento State. The Bruins shot 54.5 percent from the field, including a 61.3 percent showing in the second half. The Bruins also outscored the Hornets by large margins both in the paint (42-20) and off turnovers (22-7).

The display of dominance against Sacramento State has been the norm for the Bruins, who are scoring 83 points per game, while knocking down more than 50 percent of their shots from the field. UCLA compounds the offensive efficiency with strong play on defense as it allows just 59 points per game on 34.2 percent shooting. Adams (19.7 ppg) is at the head of the scorers table, which features five players in double figures. Norman Powell (13.3 ppg), Tony Parker (12.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg), David Wear (11.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Zach LaVine (10.0 ppg) fill out that list. Meanwhile, Kyle Anderson (9.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 7.0 apg) has used his size in the backcourt to stuff the stat sheet across the board.