THE MATCHUPS
• Elon will be facing Abilene Christian, UC Riverside and Pacific for the first time ever during the tournament..
• The Phoenix is 1-1 all-time against members of the Southland Conference heading into its tournament-opening matchup against ACU. Most recently, Elon fell to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 85-81, on Nov. 27, 2015 inside Alumni Gym as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland tournament.
• Elon defeated Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 26, 2000 by a score of 59-51 in the United Airlines Tip-Off tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii. That was during Elon's first year as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks.
• Heading into the UC Riverside matchup, Elon is 1-1 all-time against members of the Big West Conference. Most recently, the Phoenix defeated Cal Poly 72-66 on Nov. 26, 2016 at the NIU Thanksgiving Classic.
• Elon is 0-2 versus members of the West Coast Conference heading into its Saturday matchup at Pacific. The Phoenix lost to both BYU and San Diego during the 2000-01 season. Elon fell 100-63 against BYU and then lost 87-66 in its opening game at the United Airlines Tip-Off tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

ELON'S TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
• Elon vs. Abilene Christian | Thursday, Nov. 22 | 6:00 p.m. ET
• Elon vs. UC Riverside | Friday, Nov. 23 | 11:00 p.m. ET
• Elon at Pacific | Saturday, Nov. 24 | 11:00 p.m. ET

ABOUT ELON
• Heading into the 2018-19 season, Elon University men's basketball returns 11 total players and three of its five starters from a year ago in Tyler Seibring, Dainan Swoope and Steven Santa Ana.
• The Phoenix returns four of its top six scorers, including its 2017-18 leading scorer and rebounder in Seibring (15.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg). Elon has two 1,000-point scorers on its roster in Seibring (1,267 points) and Swoope (1,050 points). Santa Ana is just 87 points away from becoming the 43rd player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateu. 
• Elon is led by senior forward Seibring, who is a two-time All-CAA selection and CoSIDA Academic All-American. 
• The program's senior class is made up of five players in Seibring, Swoope, Santa Ana, Sheldon Eberhardt and Karolis Kundrotas. The four players have combined to play in a total of 437 games and make 209 starts.
• Additionally, the Phoenix has made four new additions to the squad for 2018-19 in first-year players Chuck Hannah, Andy Pack, Federico Poser and Kris Wooten.
• Elon made an average 10.5 three pointers per game last season, which ranked second in the CAA and 13th in the nation. Seibring made 82 of Elon's three pointers last season, which was tied for the second-most in a single season in program history.
• The Phoenix has been predicted to finish eighth in the league as the CAA released its preseason men's basketball poll on Oct. 17, during the conference's digital media day. Northeastern was picked the favorite to win the league. Tyler Seibring collected preseason All-CAA honors as he was named to the second team.

SCHAR CENTER
• Elon University men's basketball will play its games inside its new facility, Schar Center, this season after calling Alumni Gym its home since since 1950.
• Schar Center officially opened its doors in July of 2018 and was dedicated on October, 19, 2018. The 161,000-square-foot convocation center has a current capacity of  5,100-seats.
• Not only does it serve as the home for Phoenix basketball and volleyball programs, but it also serves as an event venue that will provide a large gathering space for a wide variety of major campus events such as convocations and concerts.
• The facility is named for Dwight and Martha Schar, of Palm Beach, Fla., parents of Stuart Schar '16 and Spencer Schar '19.
• Among Elon's most generous donors for the project, the Schars have contributed $13 million to the university to provide lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications facilities, which features Dwight C. Schar Hall as the centerpiece.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2018-19
• Elon's 110th season of basketball will open with a marquee matchup as the Elon Phoenix hosts the No. 8-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in the program's first regular season basketball game inside Schar Center. The game is set for Friday, Nov. 9, on ESPNU.
• Prior to that contest, the Phoenix will open the 2018-19 season on Nov. 6 on the road at Manhattan. Elon will then compete in the Tiger Thanksgiving Classic, Nov. 22-24, at Pacific University on Thanksgiving week. Elon has a combined 8-1 record in its last two early-season tournaments.
• During its non-conference slate, the Phoenix plays host to seven home contests, which include North Carolina, Boston University, Furman, UNCG and Canisius.
• Elon opens CAA play with a pair of home contests against Towson (Dec. 28) and James Madison (Dec. 30).

SCOUTING ABILENE CHRISTIAN
• Abilene Christian is off to a 3-0 start after wins over Arlington Baptist, Arkansas State and most recently against Denver.
• In its last game, Payten Ricks tallied a career-best 23 points and hit a career-high five 3-pointers in the game as the Wildcats grabbed the victory over the Pioneers.
• Abilene Christian is off to its first 3-0 start since moving up to NCAA Division I affiliation prior to the 2013-14 season.
• The ACU Wildcats were picked to finish 4th in the Southland Conference Preseason Poll.
• ACU was 8-10 in the league last year in a tie for eighth place, but missed out on the final spot in the conference postseason tournament.

PREVIEWING UC RIVERSIDE
• UC Riverside just picked up its first win of the season on Saturday, Nov. 17, with a 63-53 win over UC Merced. The Highlanders opened its season with losses to Oregon State, Portland State and UNLV.
• Head Coach David Patrick has begun his first season at the helm of UC Riverside. Coach Patrick takes over Highlanders Hoops with an impressive resume that features stints at Saint Mary's, LSU, and TCU. Patrick was welcomed to the program in early April.
• UCR's leading scorer from last year Dikymbe Martin currently leads the team in scoring at 14.3 ppg and tallied 20 points in the team's season opener versus Oregon State. 
• Last year, the Highlanders battled to make the Big West Tournament and nearly knocked off the No. 1 seed in UC Davis in the opening round, falling 70-66.
• UC Riverside was picked to finish 8th in the 2018 Big West Conference Preseason Poll.

A LOOK AT PACIFIC
• The Tigers will take a 3-2 record back home this week as they host their Tiger Thanksgiving Classic.
• In its last game, Pacific struggled offensively on Tuesday night against UNLV, falling to the Runnin' Rebels by a score of 96-70.
• This year's squad returns six individuals, including All-WCC Second Team selection Jahlil Tripp, Roberto Gallinat, Lafayette Dorsey, Anthony Townes, Kendall Small, and redshirt junior Khy Kabellis. The eight newcomers are made up of three freshman, a sophomore, and four junior transfers.
• The Tigers have nearly have four players averaging double figures as Townes (13.8 ppg), Roberto Gallinat (11.4 ppg) and Jahlil Tripp (10.0 ppg) are all averaging double digits. Lafayette Dorsey is averaging 9.4 points per contest for Pacific.
• Pacific was picked to finish 6th in the 2018 WCC Preseason Poll. Gonzaga was selected to snag the program's seventh-consecutive Conference title after receiving nine first-place votes and garnering 81 total points. 

UP NEXT
Elon returns to Schar Center following the Tiger Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 27, to host Central Penn at 7 p.m. That contest will begin a five-game homestand for the Phoenix and will be aired on Phoenix All-Access.