GAME NOTES: The Auburn Tigers and the Milwaukee Panthers will tip off the 2014-15 season on Friday night at Auburn Arena as part of the MGM Grand Main Event.

Milwaukee waded in the middle of the Horizon League pack in 2013-14, finishing the regular season just 7-9 in league play. However, the team got hot at the right time, winning four straight in the league tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006. As a No. 15 seed, the Panthers fell to No. 2 seed Villanova in the second round, 21-14.

With another disappointing campaign in 2013-14 (14-16, 6-12 SEC), the Tigers fired head coach Tony Barbee, who finished below .500 in all four seasons at the helm. Auburn has been an afterthought in the SEC since making the NCAA Tournament in three out of five years from 1999-2003, and it hopes to turn its fortunes around with one of the nation's most high-profile offseason coaching acquisitions. Bruce Pearl has a proven track record of success in the SEC, having collected a 145-61 record with Tennessee from 2005-2011, making the NCAA Tournament in each of his six seasons.

This marks the first-ever meeting between the programs.

The Panthers will have to adjust to life without last season's top two scorers Jordan Allen (14.7 ppg) and Kyle Kelm (12.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg), but there's still some talent left in the cupboard. Matt Tiby (12.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg) will continue to be a mainstay in the frontcourt, while Steve McWhorter (7.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.5 spg) is a well-rounded performer on the perimeter. Akeem Springs, a transfer from Northern Illinois, will regain his eligibility after averaging 7.7 ppg as a freshman in 2012-13.

For Auburn, starters Chris Denson (19.1 ppg), Allen Payne (7.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Asauhn Dixon-Tatum (6.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg) are all gone, although there is still reason to be excited in Pearl's first season. KT Harrell (18.3 ppg) brings explosion to the backcourt, as does Antoine Mason, who led the nation in scoring last season with Niagara (25.6 ppg) and will be eligible to play immediately. Tahj Shamsid-Deen (9.5 ppg) will also be heavily involved, although the frontcourt will be thin until freshman Trayvon Reed (7-1, 240) joins the team in December after finishing his academic requirements.

Few teams in the country boast the scoring talent in the backcourt that Auburn does, and in front of the home crowd, Harrell and Mason should fill up the bucket enough for the Tigers to keep the Panthers at bay.