Bruins battle Blazers

Nov 28, 2014 - 4:44 PM Nassau, Bahamas (SportsNetwork.com) - The 22nd-ranked UCLA Bruins and the UAB Blazers will try to salvage their stays in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Friday night in the seventh-place game at Imperial Arena.

UCLA failed to advance to the winner's side of the bracket in the quarterfinals by suffering a 75-65 loss at the hands of Oklahoma and then had another disappointing setback on Thursday in a nationally-ranked showdown with North Carolina, 78-56. It was the first two losses of the season for the Bruins, who are 4-2.

UAB was outmatched in both of its matchups in this event, falling to the seventh-place game after losing to Wisconsin (72-43) and Florida (56-47). The Blazers are off to a sluggish start this season at just 2-4.

The Bruins and the Blazers have never before squared off on the hardwood.

Although the Bruins played tight with UNC for most of the first half of their latest game, the Tar Heels finished the first half on an 18-4 run to go into intermission up by double digits and the Bruins never sniffed the lead in the second stanza. They shot only 38.6 percent from the field, which included a dreadful 1-of-14 showing from 3-point range, and they were also plagued by 23 turnovers. Norman Powell paced the losing effort with 15 points, while Kevon Looney and Bryce Alford netted 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Two poor showings in this event hasn't been able to completely spoil UCLA's impressive offensive numbers this season, as it shoot 46 percent from the field for 83.7 ppg, which is more than good enough to support a modest scoring defense (73.2 ppg). Alford (18.2 ppg) and Powell (18.0 ppg) are one of the best one-two scoring punches in the nation, with the duo combining to shoot 26-of-67 from 3-point range. Alford also gets his teammates involved with 7.3 apg and Powell is a great perimeter defender with nearly three steals per game. Rounding out the outstanding starting five are Looney (14.3 ppg, 11.5 rpg), Tony Parker (11.7 ppg) and Isaac Hamilton (10.0 ppg).

The Blazers put forth a great effort against Florida on Thursday, even holding a two-point lead with under four minutes to play, but they faltered down the stretch by allowing the Gators to score the final 11 points of the game. Their defensive effort was spectacular, as they held Florida to a mere 34 percent field goal shooting, but unfortunately they could not take advantage with a modest 42.2 percent showing (including 4-of-14 from 3-point range) to go with a game-high 16 turnovers. Tosin Mehinti and Robert Brown were the only players to score in double figures with 12 points apiece.

UAB has established a similar theme this season, as its lackluster offensive attack (.402 FG percentage, 63.0 ppg) isn't quite good enough to support a stellar defense (.439, 67.7). Brown (11.3 ppg) and C.J. Washington (9.3 ppg) are the leading scorers but neither shoots greater than 36 percent from the field. Tyler Madison (9.3 ppg), Mehinti (8.8 ppg) and Hakeem Baxter (8.0 ppg) have also been solid.