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LOS ANGELES -- Sophomore Jordan Adams poured in a career-high 30 points and classmate Kyle Anderson tallied his first career triple-double to help the No. 22/24 UCLA men's basketball team score an 81-70 win over Morehead State on Friday night at historic Pauley Pavilion.
The Pac-12 Conference Bruins improve to 4-0 overall, while the Ohio Valley Conference Eagles slip to 4-2 on the campaign. The meeting, which attracted 5,508 fans, was part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Senior Chad Posthumus paced Morehead State with a career-high 21 points and game-high 18 rebounds. The performance was his fifth double-double in 39 games at MSU. It was also his fourth consecutive 10-rebound effort and the most boards by an OVC player this season.
"UCLA is a very good basketball team, and you have to give them credit," MSU Head Coach Sean Woods said. "They made a few more plays than we did tonight. Their length and size gave us problems. They made shots, especially in the first half on their way to the 17-point lead."
Adams, who recorded 17 points after intermission, connected on 10-of-18 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line in the contest. He also pulled down seven rebounds. The scoring performance topped his previous career high of 26 and marked his 14th career 20-point effort.
Anderson, a 6-foot-9 point guard, added 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for UCLA's first triple-double since Dec. 18, 1995. His rebounds, assists and three blocked shots were all team highs. He had previously notched nine career double-doubles, which was more than any other Bruin.
"Jordan (Abrams) and Kyle (Anderson) were two big keys to UCLA's victory tonight," Woods said. "Both of those young men are very talented. We were certainly worried about Jordan because of his ability to score, and Kyle is their big-time playmaker. They both hurt us in different ways."
Freshman Zach LaVine contributed 12 points for UCLA, while senior Travis Wear rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10. The Bruins drilled 49 percent (30-of-61) from the floor, 33 percent (6-of-18) from beyond the arc and 79 percent (15-of-19) from the free-throw stripe.
UCLA was credited with 23 assists and nine steals, while limiting itself to nine turnovers.
Morehead State made just 37 percent (23-of-62) from the field and 67 percent (14-of-21) from the charity stripe. The Eagles, who came in +51 in the rebounding department through five games, matched UCLA on the glass as each squad yanked down 36 boards.
Sophomore Brent Arrington added 17 points for MSU on 5-of-8 from three-point range, while junior Angelo Warner tallied 12 points. Warner and junior Kareem Storey dished out five assists each, while Storey also posted seven rebounds from the point guard spot.
MSU held an 18-17 advantage six minutes into the tilt, but UCLA answered with a 20-2 run in less than five minutes to build a 17-point cushion. The Bruins held a 46-38 lead at the break.
The Eagles trimmed the deficit to three on multiple occasions in the second half, but UCLA manufactured a 16-5 spurt to open up a 14-point advantage with 5:00 remaining in the affair.
"Morehead State looked like a very good basketball team on film and they played like one tonight," UCLA Head Coach Steve Alford said. "I think they will win a lot of games this season. I really like their big (Chad Posthumus), they have some good guards and they are well coached."
Morehead State began the day with a 4-1 record, which marked its best start since the 2004-05 season. The Eagles were also ranked 83rd out of 347 Division I schools in ESPN.com's Daily Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). The figure was second out of 12 schools in the conference.
UCLA is currently the highest ranked opponent that MSU will face in 2013-14. Xavier, Tennessee and Belmont also received votes in the latest Associated Press and/or USA Today Coaches Polls.
The Eagles continue their five-game road trip and 10-day West Coast swing on Sunday at Mountain West Conference foe Nevada. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET. MSU will also face Chattanooga in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving Day and either Gardner-Webb or IUPUI the following afternoon.
