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Jordan Adams, Wear twins lead UCLA in a win over Indiana State

Howland

When No. 13 UCLA opened the renovated Pauley Pavilion - after 18-months and spending $132 million - the star freshman performance was expected to be from shooting guard Shabazz Muhammad

Instead, Muhammad was ruled ineligible before the game. Luckily, freshman guard Jordan Adams came off the bench to drop a game-high 21 points off 7-of-12 shooting, to go along with eight boards.

The Shabazz Muhammad-less Bruins were able to pull away from Indiana State in the second half to take the first game of the season 86-59

Adams provided a much-needed spark in a slow starting game. The Bruins were able to walk into halftime with a 36-27 lead, aided by an 8-0 run.

The second half is when UCLA got going. The Bruins ended the night with a 23-7 run.

There’s a lot of good and bad that comes from this game:

The good - UCLA won a game without Shabazz Muhammad. Not saying that they won’t need them, they will. But UCLA showed why the freshman class is so highly-touted with solid debuts from Adams and point forward Kyle Anderson.

David and Travis Wear combined for 3o points (13 for David, 17 for Travis). Both bigs were able to knock down mid-range jumpers and remained active and pick-and-roll/pop situations. Fellow North Carolina transfer, Larry Drew played well. He didn’t score the ball, but he had five assists to one turnover. Drew dislocated his finger in the second half, but will be fine, according to multiple reports.

The Bruins also held the Sycamores to a dreadful 31 percent shooting.

The bad - Not having Muhammad clearly tops this list. Josh Smith’s size still remains a question, finishing with five points and five rebounds.

Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne