No. 23 UCLA 72, Drexel 67: Jordan Adams scored a team-high 16 points and sealed the game with a pair of free throws with three seconds to go to give Steve Alford a win over the visiting Dragons in his Bruin coaching debut.

David Wear and Zach LaVine both scored 14 for UCLA while Kyle Anderson added 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Bruins, who were playing their first game since the firing of coach Ben Howland, who guided the Bruins for the past 10 years.

Drexel's Frantz Massenat led all scorers with 20 points. Damion Lee added 17 but missed a 3-pointer with five seconds to play which would have tied the game.

UCLA led by as much as 13 in the first half and trailed only in the game's opening minutes. But the Bruins, which shot 51 percent from the floor in the first half and took a 42-31 lead into the break, could never shake the Dragons.

Massenat cut the deficit to 65-63 with a layup with 2:35 to play and Lee later trimmed the margin to 70-67 with a layup with 56 seconds left. After a UCLA miss, Lee rushed a wide open 3-pointer from the wing, missing badly, before the Bruins got the rebound and Adams made two free throws.

GAME NOTEBOOK: UCLA senior forward Travis Wear missed the game after having his appendix removed. He could return by Nov. 18, the Bruins' third game. ...Drexel is 0-4 all-time against Pac-12 teams. ...Alford said he expects freshman Wanaah Bail to return sometime in mid-November. The 6-9 Bail had surgery on his left knee over the summer.