Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Preview and Game Thread: Irish VS Syracuse Orange

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are off to a fantastic start to the season and enter Saturday’s contest against the Syracuse Orange with a 6-1 record, after thumping the Michigan State Spartans earlier this week thanks to a smokeshow of a game by Cormac Ryan.

Notre Dame has been a really well-rounded scoring team this season with all five starters averaging double digits in scoring with Nate Laszewski leading the way at 16.9. While Dane Goodwin and J.J. Starling are averaging more points a game, senior guard Trey Wertz has really settled into his role distributing the ball and making the offense work.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

It’s the first ACC game of the season, and the Irish are really clicking right now — unlike the Orange.

ODDS

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Irish are 6.5-point favorites over Syracuse with an OVER/UNDER of 134.5.

SYRACUSE ORANGE

Head Coach: Jim Boeheim (47th season)
Season Record: 3-4
Key Players: G Judah Mintz (15.1 ppg), C Jesse Edwards (11.1 reb pg)
Quick Overview: It’s been a tough season for the Orange. Jim Boeheim got his 1000th win, but Syracuse is on a three game losing stream and just got hammered by Illinois, 73-44.

WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW TO WATCH

When: Saturday, December 3, 12:00 PM EST
Where: Purcell Pavilion, South Bend, Indiana
How to Watch: ESPN2

GAME THREAD

The game thread is open below. I know many of us are on Twitter for most of the game, but I encourage you to vent and do other things that require more than 280 characters here.