GAME NOTES: Off to their best start in more than a decade, the California Golden Bears try to keep the good times rolling Friday night as they host the Eastern Washington Eagles in non-conference action at Haas Pavilion.

Aside from a 71-55 loss to Texas during the 2K Classic in New York City last month, everything has gone right for the Bears thus far in 2014-15. The squad's most recent outing took place last Saturday and it used the opportunity to dismiss the Princeton Tigers, 67-57, at home. The victory was the sixth in a row and the ninth in 10 opportunities this season for the Golden Bears.

Also off to a strong start are the Eagles, winners of eight of 11 decisions. However, before losing back-to-back outings recently, the team was an impressive 8-1 right out of the gate. Unfortunately, EWU followed up an 81-77 loss to Washington last weekend with a 76-52 setback at Sam Houston State on Tuesday night.

This game marks the end of a five-game road trip that began with stops at Seattle and San Francisco. The Eagles will play their final game of the 2014 calendar year on Monday when they host Lewis-Clark State.

As far as the all-time series is concerned, the Bears have won both previous meetings, the most recent of which took place during the 2001-02 season.

Down in the Lone Star State, the Eagles shot only 36.7 percent from the floor and 10-of-17 (.588) at the free-throw line against the Bearkats, leaving the visitors far off the pace set by SHSU. Tyler Harvey tried to keep the Eagles in the mix with his 26 points, hitting 5-of-7 behind the 3-point line, but it just wasn't enough. Venky Jois accounted for 13 points and seven rebounds for a program that produced only four points off the bench.

Harvey, one of the most aggressive perimeter shooters in the Big Sky Conference, leads the Eagles in scoring with 21.0 ppg thanks in large part to his 45.0 percent accuracy on the outside where he is sinking better than four triples per outing. Jois, who carried the load on the glass with 8.3 rpg, is second in scoring with 19.6 ppg a he shoots better from the field (.603) than he does at the free-throw line (.564).

Of his 23 points against Princeton, Tyrone Wallace dropped in all but three in the second half to help push the Golden Bears to the home win. Wallace, who also accounted for eight rebounds and three assists, converted 9-of-19 field goal attempts for a squad that knocked down 49.0 percent in the meeting. Jordan Mathews and Christian Behrens both added 12 points and David Kravish 11 as the latter become the newest member of the school's 1,000-point club.

The leading scorer for California in each of the last five outings and a total of seven times overall to this point, Wallace is averaging 19.4 ppg as he shoots an impressive 50.3 percent from the field, but a flawed 54.7 percent at the charity stripe. Wallace is also responsible for 8.7 rpg and 45 assists, making him one of a rare breed who is pacing his team in all three major categories. Mathews and Kravish also have a hand in the offense with 13.0 and 11.3 ppg, respectively, as the Bears outscore the competition by an average of more than 11 ppg.

Packing more than enough firepower on offense, the Bears should have little trouble taking care of an Eastern Washington program that is now finding out that the schedule is growing tougher and tougher.