NCAA Men’s College Basketball Best Bets for 11/28/2023

Purdue might sit atop the AP polls for the top 25, but there is plenty of competitive basketball to be played this week. I’ve included my three best bets for Tuesday, 11/28/2023 for NCAA men’s college basketball below. Be sure to check out the Godzilla Wins Daily Staff Picks page for all of my college basketball picks and more!

Here are my three best bets for Tuesday.

LSU at Syracuse 

Trouble in New York

Syracuse has struggled to find its way so far this year, going 1-2 in the Maui Invitational and rolling into the game with the LSU Tigers with a pitiful 1-5 against the spread. The issue with the Orange in November is the poor guard play by both JJ Starling and Chris Bell. Starling is shooting 6.3% from three this year and his off-the-ball play has been basically nonexistent.

The weak play of Starling and Bell has put extra pressure on Judah Mintz, who is averaging 18 points and four assists so far this season. He has NBA-level talent, but he can’t carry the offensive deficiencies of the rest of this team. If the ‘Cuse can’t figure out how to shoot the three (they are averaging 28% from beyond three this year), then they will have a hard time beating anyone with talent.

Trending Upward

While Syracuse struggled in the Maui Invitational, the LSU Tigers are coming into this matchup on a three game win streak. The Tigers don’t do much in the way offense, but they have an elite defensive squad. Freshman Mike Williams III is averaging over 2.5 steals per game and his intensity should frustrate the sweaty spaghetti guard play of the Orange.

Look for LSU to move the ball on offense in an effort to find their leading scorer, Will Baker. He’s a crafty shooter and should be able to expose Naheem Mcleod on the Syracuse defense. Mcleod is significantly slower than Baker and will struggle to keep up as he fights through off-ball screens.

The Pick

Don’t be fooled by the point total here. It may seem like the UNDER hits for LSU, considering they rely on their defense so much, but the OVER is 4-2 so far in LSU games. The Tigers force a bunch of turnovers, but they give up plenty of points as well.

Don’t overthink this one too much. Syracuse needs more time to figure this one out and LSU is playing well.

LSU (PK)

Oral Roberts at Kansas State

The Pride of Tulsa

Oval Roberts comes into this game as big underdogs against the Kansa State Wildcats. The Golden Eagles are on a three game skid and I’m not so sure their matchup against the Big-12 rival is just what the doctor ordered.

Oral Roberts struggles to score the basketball, shooting 40.8% from the field and 31.9% from three point range. The only offensive category where the Golden Eagles can take solace is turnovers, where they are averaging only 8.4 per game (7th in the country). I would love this stat if Oral Roberts turned that into points, but their assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.2. They just don’t score much.

Kansas State and the Three Ball

Kansas State’s offense relies heavily on freshman guard Nigel Pack, who is averaging 12.7 points per game and just under four assists. Pack can really move the ball around and make plays. He compliments the play of senior guard Mike McGuirl well. McGuirl is averaging 11.8 points per game so far this season.

The Wildcats shoot the ball well from three. They average 33.5% from the three-point line and 9.3 three pointers made. They also play fast, move the ball, and take a bunch of shots. Oral Roberts will have to limit the Wildcats to one shot per possession and hope Pack or McGuirl doesn’t get hot. I’m not sure the Golden Eagles will be able to do that.

The Pick

The point spread is bit too steep for me, but I love the OVER here. The OVER is 5-1 in Kansas State games this year and the Golden Eagles’ inability to score has brought the total down quite a bit. Look for a lot of threes from the Wildcats and for the OVER to bust.

OVER 153.5 Total Points

Clemson at Alabama

Senior Citizens

The Clemson Tigers look to upset the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa this Tuesday night. Nate Oates’ team looks to continue their success with a fast pace, high-flying offense, and efficiency from beyond the arc.

If Clemson wins this game it will be on the strength of play from their three seniors: Joe Giard III, Chase Hunter, and PJ Hall. I really like what I’ve seen from Giard III — the Syracuse transfer — who is shooting 39% from beyond the arc. This group has been incredibly efficient on offense and should be able feed Hall in this game, as the Crimson Tide struggle to defend in the paint.

We’re going to find out a lot about this Clemson team Tuesday night. Their strength of schedule has been suspect so far and their most impressive win is against a lackluster Boise State team.

High Tide

The Crimson Tide have not missed their NBA lottery pick, Brandon Miller, much this season. Alabama is shooting 54.1% from the field (3rd), 33% from three (3rd), and 79.8% from the charity stripe (14th). In short, the Crimson Tide offense is relentless, fast, and efficient. They play like adults.

The Tide’s defense often leaves much to be desired. They struggle to defend agains the three point shot and, given Giard III’s efficiency, that could be a problem against Clemson. Alabama also doesn’t force a lot of turnovers. They are more comfortable outscoring a team than tightening up on defense.

The Pick

The scoring potential of both teams has inflated the point total for this game and I don’t want any part of 160.5. That’s way to high and it’s absolutely miserable cheering for an OVER that high to pop in college basketball. I think Clemson’s offense can keep up with Alabama enough to cover this ten point spread. I would play it down to +9 if you want to get rid of the juice.

Clemson +10