Notre Dame will look to build momentum on Saturday afternoon when it opens Atlantic Coast Conference play against visiting Syracuse in South Bend, Ind.

The Fighting Irish (6-1) have been a force in nonconference play, including a convincing 70-52 victory against Michigan State on Thursday.

Cormac Ryan scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half against the Spartans. It was a key bounce-back performance for the Fighting Irish, who sustained their first loss with a 63-51 setback to St. Bonaventure on Nov. 25.

Ryan made 8 of 11 shots from the floor — including 6 of 7 attempts from 3-point range — for Notre Dame on Thursday.

“I think we were due for one, all of us,” Ryan said after the win. “We have guys who are too good at playing the right way. I think we were still kind of finding ourselves and we picked a good night to figure it out.”

Nate Laszewski is leading Notre Dame with 16.9 points per game, while Dane Goodwin (14.0), J.J. Starling (13.0), Ryan (11.9), and Trey Wertz (11.3) are also averaging double-digit scoring.

Syracuse (3-4) is trying to dig itself out of a rut.

The Orange have lost three straight, including a lopsided 73-44 setback to Illinois in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday.

“We’ve got some young guys that are trying to figure out what they have to do, and they didn’t figure it out very well tonight,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We got a lesson.”

This comes after a season in which his team finished under .500 and ninth in the ACC. His .485 winning percentage following the 16-17 campaign was his worst of his coaching career.

Judah Mintz has led Syracuse in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game. Jesse Edwards is contributing 13.7 and Joseph Girard III is adding 13.4 to round out the Orange attack.

–Field Level Media

Oklahoma fell 52-51 to Sam Houston in the season opener on Nov. 7.

It hasn’t lost since.

The Sooners (6-1) will look for their seventh consecutive victory when they battle host Villanova on Saturday in Philadelphia.

Oklahoma most recently defeated Nebraska, Seton Hall and Mississippi to capture the ESPN Events Invitational in Kissimmee, Fla.

The Sooners beat Mississippi 59-55 in the title game behind Grant Sherfield’s 12 points and Sam Godwin’s 11. Tanner Groves and Bijan Cortes had 10 each in the balanced effort.

“When you win a championship that’s three games in four days, you need a lot of contributions,” Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser said. “And that’s what happened, which really excites us over these last four days. We got a lot of contributions from different guys.”

Now the Sooners will aim to continue this positive momentum against the Wildcats.

“It’s the excitement on their face to win a championship,” Moser said. “There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes in a tournament setting to win and advance. These guys locked in for these last four days, and I was happy for them to have this moment.”

After winning two of its first three games, Villanova has dropped four in a row.

The Wildcats (2-5) were swept by Iowa State, Portland and Oregon in the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Ore.

It has been an uncharacteristic start for the Wildcats, who reached the Final Four last season.

But Hall of Fame head coach Jay Wright retired after more than 500 victories and two national championships and was replaced by Kyle Neptune.

Villanova has been without two key players in Justin Moore (Achilles) and Cam Whitmore (right thumb).

While Whitmore has been practicing, it’s unclear when he will make his anticipated debut.

Caleb Daniels led the Wildcats with 16 points and Brendan Hausen added 15 in their 74-67 loss to Oregon last Sunday.

“Our guys fought,” Neptune said. “We had our chances but in the end it just wasn’t enough.”

Villanova held a 67-64 lead with 2:27 left before the Ducks pulled away for the final 10 points.

“We just couldn’t execute,” Neptune said. “We couldn’t get rebounds, couldn’t get stops.”

–Field Level Media

After a 103-101, four-overtime win over then-No. 1 North Carolina secured third place at the Phil Knight Invitational last weekend in Portland, Ore., No. 11 Alabama returns home to face South Dakota State on Saturday night.

The Crimson Tide (6-1) have to avoid looking past the Jackrabbits (3-5) with another No. 1 team looming on the schedule. After Saturday’s tilt in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Alabama has a week off before playing at top-ranked Houston on Dec. 10.

In the win against the Tar Heels, Jahvon Quinerly, Brandon Miller, Jaden Bradley and Charles Bediako spearheaded the Crimson Tide’s overtime magic.

Quinerly and Miller scored all seven of Alabama’s points in the third OT after the Crimson Tide team trailed by six points. Bradley and Bediako recorded all of the Tide’s seven points in the fourth OT to secure the victory.

“That was a fun one,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “I don’t know if I have been involved in a four-overtime game before. I was losing track of how many overtimes we were in at the end, but a lot of credit to our guys, we showed a lot of character there and we could have folded.

“To come back from being down six in the third overtime, we were tired and both teams like to get up and down, and it turned into a halfcourt game for a majority of the end of the game.”

Quinerly looks to be rounding into form following his return from an ACL injury on Nov. 15. He had a season-high 21 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals in 44 minutes against the Tar Heels.

Miller has been Alabama’s top player — and its most clutch performer. He leads the Crimson Tide in scoring (19.6 points per game), rebounding (8.9 per game) and minutes played (33.9 per game). He also is shooting a team-best 48 percent from the 3-point arc (24 of 50).

Bradley (8.4 points, 3.0 assists) has been terrific off the bench, and Bediako (6.0 points, 7.4 rebounds) has been steady in the post. Mark Sears ranks second on the team in minutes (33.3) and points per game (14.3) after putting up a team-high 24 on Sunday.

Last year, South Dakota State led the country in 3-point shooting (44.5 percent). However, the Jackrabbits have taken a step back in that area and were shooting 35.9 percent from behind the arc after going 10 of 21 from deep in an 83-68 road loss to Kent State on Friday.

Zeke Mayo, who scored a team-high 12 against the Golden Flashes, leads the Jackrabbits with averages of 12.5 points and seven rebounds. Mayo and William Kyle III (10.5 points, 3.9 rebounds) are a nice inside-out combo for a South Dakota State team that features nine players who average double digits in minutes played.

Alex Arians (7.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists), Matt Dentlinger (9.4 points) and Charlie Easley (8.9 points) are also reliable contributors for head coach Eric Henderson.

Luke Appel was the Summit League Sixth Man of the Year last season and a preseason first-team all-conference pick entering the current campaign. However, he is averaging just 6.4 points this season, and he didn’t play against Kent State.

–Field Level Media