College Basketball Betting Guide: Lines, Trends & Picks For Tuesday, Nov. 29

College Basketball Betting Lines, Odds & Picks

The Big Ten/ACC Challenge is in full swing with even more games on the docket tonight. That’s where one of my favorite picks for tonight comes into play. So far the ACC is up 2-0 in this year’s Challenge, but the Big Ten should have a few easy wins tonight.  

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Penn State at Clemson

Penn State puts its 6-1 record on the line on Tuesday when it travels to South Carolina to take on Clemson who is 5-2 on the year. 

These two teams play similar styles of basketball. They both want to slow the game down and rely heavily on their defensive efforts. Penn State owns the 33rd most efficient defense, which showed in their last outing as they held Lafayette to just 31% shooting from the field and 32% from deep. On the season, Penn State is holding teams under 40% overall. The Nittany Lions will need to know where Chase Hunter is at all times on the floor because he’s Clemson’s best three-point shooter, shooting 60% from beyond the arc. If they can slow him down, then I really like this game's chances of going under the total.

The Tigers have put up plenty of points over their last five games, thanks to Hunter’s shooting, but Penn State will be the best defense they’ve faced all season. I also expect a bit of shooting regression from Clemson after shooting over 50% from the field against Cal. Plus, neither team is particularly strong on the glass which is going to force both teams to have to be much more efficient with their possessions. When possessions are limited, that often slows the game down significantly and is a great sign for under plays. 

MY PICK: Under 131.5. I expect this to be a slow pace game with strong defensive showings from both teams. 

Massachusetts at South Florida 

UMass comes into Tuesday’s matchup fresh off claiming the Myrtle Beach Invitational title. The team is on quite the roll, having won four of their last five games, and are now looking for their fourth straight. One of the things that makes UMass such an interesting team this season is that they don’t have just one single player that is filling up the stat sheet each night. Instead, they have five players that average over 8.4 points per game. Their offense is very fluid and they know how to share the basketball. 

After an awful 0-5 start to the season, South Florida has now won two-straight games heading into this matchup. Their biggest issue this year has been scoring. They’re shooting just 29.3% from the field and just 62.4% from the free throw line. If that type of poor shooting continues tonight, it’s going to make it tough for them to keep this game close. The Bulls’ defense is pretty solid, but they also haven’t faced a team that has the type of balanced scoring that UMass does. I expect that to be an issue for them tonight.  

MY PICK: UMass -2.5. UMass continues its hot play while South Florida takes another step back in this one. 

South Carolina State at East Carolina 

South Carolina is searching for its first win of the season as it travels to East Carolina for a matchup with the Pirates. They are once again heavy underdogs in this game but that makes complete sense to me because this is the Bulldogs 8th-straight road game. Woof. Not only does travel fatigue play a role in this line, but South Carolina’s offense has been pretty bad to start the season. They’re shooting just 29% from three this season and rely heavily on the production of their two best players Lesown Hallums and Rakeim Gary. If East Carolina can slow those two down, it’s going to be tough for the Bulldogs to put points on the board. 

The Pirates are an uber-talented team that’s going to come into this game and really wow you. But when it comes to the talent disparity between these two teams, I’m much more comfortable backing South Carolina who is averaging 75 points per game and knows how to play defense. 

MY PICK: East Carolina -16. This game could get out of hand and our BetQL model agrees with our play on the spread. 

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