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    CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will host their old friends from across town on Friday night when the Hendrix Warriors come to the Farris Center.

Tip-off is set for 5:30 on "Salute to Service" night in conjunction with the Little Rock Air Force Base. All active and retired military will receive special $5 tickets with a valid ID.  A ceremony with cadets taking their oath to join the United States Air Force will be conducted at halftime.

"It's going to be a wonderful ceremony on Friday with the Air Force commissioning their recruits,'" said UCA head coach Anthony Boone.  "We're actually going to keep our guys out there on the floor at halftime, both teams, to witness that. It's going to be incredible, a great experience for everyone." 

The Bears and Warriors will be meeting for the 134th time in a series that dates all the way back to the 1925-26 season. UCA leads the overall series 79-54 and has won the past 11 meetings. The series took a break in the early 1990s when UCA moved up to NCAA Division II and Hendrix moved to NCAA Division III.

Last year's matchup ended in a 90-56 victory for the Bears. UCA jumped out to a 47-24 halftime lead by shooting 56.7 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. UCA settled for 53 percent shooting for the game and finished with five players in double figures. Eddy Kayouloud had a game-high 20 points, hitting 8 of 11 from the field. Camren Hunter and Ibbe Klintman added 15 points each for the Bears, who shot 53 percent for the game and held the Warriors to just 35.8 percent.

UCA also dominated on the board with a 42-28 advantage in rebounds. Kayouloud had seven rebounds and three others added six.

The Bears are coming off a season-opening 79-55 loss at Wichita State on Monday night in Wichita, Kan. The Bears shot just 30.1 percent from the field, including a 4-of-30 performance from three-point range. Hendrix losts its opener 81-67 to Austin College on Tuesday night in Sherman, Texas. The Warriors out-shot the Kangaroos 50.9 percent to 39 percent but Austin College went 12 of 19 at the free-throw line compared to 3 of 8 for the Warriors. 

Craig Collier II, a junior guard from North Little Rock, paced the Warriors with 13 points, but was just 1 of 7 from three-point range. Hendrix also had 26 turnovers that led to 36 points for Austin College.

UCA also plays at home on Monday night when the Bears host the Little Rock Trojans in the "Governor's I-40 Showdown" at the Farris Center. Tip-off for that game is 7 p.m. on "Purple Out Night."