NORMAN — Oklahoma has found some much-needed momentum early in the season.

The Sooners reeled off three straight victories last week as they won the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in The Bahamas. On Monday, they landed at No. 21 in the AP Top 25, while Jeremiah Fears was named the SEC Freshman of the Week.

Now, they have a chance to build on that momentum on Tuesday, as they return home to face Georgia Tech at 8 p.m. (ESPNU) for the SEC-ACC Challenge. That's the focus for Porter Moser and his team as they look to improve on their 7-0 start to the season.

Here are a few notes from Monday's media availability:

Context: Winning the tournament wasn't easy. They won all three games against Providence, Arizona and Louisville by five points or fewer, as the newly-assembled group had to figure things out in crunch time.

For Moser, that's something they can build on.

Quote: "We knew we were gonna find a lot out about ourselves playing that competition and doing that. I thought things I found out is that they can take a punch. We'd get up and then they'd keep coming back, keep coming back, keep coming back and then you find a way to win. I thought we showed some resiliency in those three days just to continue to find games...

"Winning three games at that level when all the games weren't decided until the last minute, until the horn. And so I thought I learned a lot about them. One of the things I've liked about how this team's evolving is the togetherness, the lack of entitlement with the guys. So I've seen that with them, and you can just see them prepare. Because there's a lot of, you go to game to game to game, and just the preparation, the want to prepare to win. And it was a really connected group. Found out that (there are) some things we've gotta do better and just saw a lot of resiliency with this group."

Context: Moser initially targeted December as a potential return for Jeff Nwankwo, who is coming back from an Achilles injury and has yet to play this season.

Jadon Jones appeared in the season opener but has missed six straight games as he deals with a back injury.

"(Jeff is) doing full individual workouts. I mean, he's running, jumping, shooting. Nothing live contact yet. But his progression has been amazing. But he is doing live one on zero workouts. Dribbling, ball handling, shooting, running, jumping. But there's no definite timetable when that return is yet... We'll just, we're just gonna keep the progression going. I'm listening to the doctors and (team athletic trainer Seth Tisdale). But he's been progressing great.

"Jadon, he hasn't practiced yet and everything, but he's feeling better... The back is just always tricky 'cause if you're... it's no use doing, like, one on zero workouts if your back is still bad. Like, you can push through an ankle, you can push through some things, but backs are tricky. So he's still not back."

Context: The true freshman saw the first true high-level competition of his collegiate career. He mostly showed out, averaging 22 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists, as he was named to the all-tournament team alongside MVP Jalon Moore.

However, Fears did struggle a bit with turnovers. He committed 15 across the three games, including eight against Providence. That'll be the type of experiences that can help him as the season progresses.

"I saw a passion to win. You can just see, it wasn't about that stage and him doing well. He was in the moment to win. The thing that I also saw was an attention to clean up mistakes. He had an attention to detail. He saw he had eight turnovers in the first (game), and we know he's gonna have some because of the aggression and the pace he plays with, but then to cut that in half against Arizona, that was really a big part."

Context: The Sooners take on Georgia Tech (4-3) on Tuesday, in a game with no shortage of storylines. In addition to Moore taking on his former team, the game will also be the return of guard Javian McCollum, who played one season in Norman before transferring last offseason. However, McCollum is slated to miss the game due to injury.

Quote: "I think Georgia Tech, they have a lot of weapons. I think Terry’s playing really well. I think (Naithan) George, No. 1, their point guard, is the best passing point guard I’ve watched on film. I watched a lot of TV. He had 11 assists the other night, and he can really pass. He can pass at all levels, and I think he makes them go. I think he’s really good. (Baye) Nbongo is on draft boards.

"For Javian, you wish him luck. No hard feelings. That’s the way the world is with the transfer portal. You want to retain guys, want to get them better, and if you don’t, you can’t sit there and fret about it. You move on. You wish them luck. We go our own way. I know he didn’t play last game, so we’ll see. There’s been no hard feelings on our part."