The Panthers open tournament play Friday at 7 p.m. against Thomas More. The Panthers are 0-3 all-time against the Saints. Thomas More won the last meeting, 66-58 in overtime, in 2005 at Mariotti Gym. This game is the season opener for Thomas More. The Saints were 28-3 last season and advanced to the NCAA national tournament for the third straight season. Thomas More is 57-4 over the last two seasons and has four straight 20+ win seasons. The Saints won their fourth straight Presidents Athletic Conference regular season championship and third straight conference tournament last season. The Saints are picked second in the Presidents Athletic Conference preseason poll.

The Panthers face tournament host Centre on Saturday at 2 p.m. This will be the second meeting between the Panthers and the Colonels. The two teams last met in 2003 in Danville as Centre won 53-49. The Colonels opened the season Wednesday with a 65-54 win over Maryville of the GSAC. Centre is picked second in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll. Last season, the Colonels were 18-9 overall and 10-4 in the SCAC. It was their first winning season since the 2001-02 season.

The Panthers will travel to Georgetown, Texas next weekend for the Southwestern University/Austin College Classic. The Panthers will face Southwestern on Friday at 5 p.m. CST and Austin on Saturday at 3 p.m. CST.