Best College Basketball Bets Today: NCAAB Picks for November 19

On Tuesday night, several more Top 25 teams will take the court for non-conference action, including the No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers, No. 15 Marquette Golden Eagles, No. 2 UConn Huskies, No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, No. 9 Kentucky Wildcats, and more!

For this slate, we are focusing on the Purdue vs. Marquette and Texas A&M-Commerce vs. UConn games to find our best college basketball picks—check out our analysis below!

All odds are available via FanDuel Sportsbook but are subject to change. Place your bets at FanDuel and claim $150 in bonus bets + 3 months of NBA League Pass.

No. 6 Purdue @ No. 15 Marquette 

• Date: Tuesday, November 19

• Time: 9:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Purdue +126 | Marquette -152

• Spread: Purdue +2.5 (-102) | Marquette -2.5 (-120)

• Total: Over 155.5 (-110) | Under 155.5 (-110)

All odds are available via FanDuel Sportsbook but are subject to change.

PICK: Marquette -2.5 (-120) at FanDuel

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The spread for this non-conference bout between two national heavyweights holds steady at 2.5 points in favor of the home team, Marquette.

Despite a convincing win at Mackey over the second-ranked Crimson Tide, Purdue still enters this game as a dog. 

Why is that?

For one, it took a near-perfect performance for the Boilers to hold off the Crimson Tide, including a ton of luck on the defensive end of the floor. 

Alabama got plenty of wide-open looks from 3-point land but only converted 31% of their attempts.

The Boilers also limited themselves to just three turnovers and shot 56.3% from behind the arc against one of the country’s best teams.

Further, Trey Kaufman-Renn had a career outing, posting 26 points, eight rebounds, and four assists; he averaged just over six points per game last season.

And it took freshman guard CJ Cox, a rotational player, hitting three 3-pointers in less than one minute to spring Purdue into a lead it never gave back.

Besides the poor free-throw shooting, Purdue couldn’t have played better.

Meanwhile, Marquette just stole a road win behind a 28-point outing from Kam Jones, one of the best guards in the country. Jones has pro-level scoring ability and has been red-hot to begin the season, shooting roughly 65% from the floor and 55% from 3-point land.

Outside of Jones, the Golden Eagles have struggled to shoot from behind the arc (25.2%) but have still won all four of their games, an impressive feat that exemplifies their talent and cohesion.

It may take a bit for Marquette to adjust to life without last season’s point guard, Tyler Kolek, an elite playmaker and passer, but there’s plenty of offensive skill to make up for his loss.

Despite an awe-inspiring home win against Bama, Purdue still appears to be a one-dimensional offensive team and a significantly less impactful defensive team than last year. 

Braden Smith is an All-American point guard who can defend at the point of attack, shoot, pass, create, and rebound despite being just 6 feet tall; however, the Boilers will struggle to develop meaningful offense outside of him.

And Shaka Smart is undoubtedly putting together a plan to get the ball out of Smith’s hands and force players like Fletcher Loyer and Kaufman-Renn to score in one-on-one situations.

Run Loyer off the 3-point line, be physical (and stay down) in the post on Kaufman-Renn, and there isn’t much more to worry about with Purdue, considering its other two starters scored zero points on zero field goal attempts.

In fact, players other than Loyer, Kaufman-Renn, or Smith took a combined 13 field goal attempts against Alabama. 

Conversely, Marquette can generate offense in various ways, as all five of its starters have been key contributors for the past two seasons.

Kam Jones (24.0 PPG, 5.0 APG) has been the offensive leader for the Golden Eagles thus far (and has been for several seasons), but David Joplin, Stevie Mitchell, and Chase Ross are all averaging double-digit points, too.

Purdue’s 3-point defense looked exploitable, as Alabama got a significant amount of open looks from deep. 

While Marquette has not shot the ball this season, it can get hot anytime.

It’s a great spot to back the Golden Eagles.

Texas A&M-Commerce @ No. 2 UConn

• Date: Tuesday, November 19

• Time: 7:00 pm EST

• Moneyline: Texas A&M-Commerce N/A | UConn N/A

• Spread: Texas A&M-Commerce +37.5 (-112) | UConn -37.5 (-108)

• Total: Over 146.5 (-110) | Under 146.5 (-110)

All odds are available via FanDuel Sportsbook but are subject to change.

PICK: UConn -37.5 (-108) at FanDuel

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UConn lost four of its five starters from the 2023-24 national championship squad, including Cam Spencer, Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton, and Stephon Castle, but has hardly skipped a beat.

The Huskies brought in 5-star forward Liam McNeeley, Michigan big man Tarris Reed, and St. Mary’s standout point guard Aidan Mahaney to join Solo Ball, Hassan Diarra, Samson Johnson, Alex Karaban, Jayden Ross, and Jaylin Stewart.

In short, the Huskies will again be one of the most dangerous teams in the nation. 

Unsurprisingly, the Huskies have covered the spread in all three of their games thus far in the 2024-25 campaign. 

They covered in 28 of their 40 games last year, the third-highest percentage (70%) among power conference teams.

How about the year before?

Connecticut finished with a 27-11-1 record against the spread in 2022-23.

So, since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, the Huskies have covered the spread in 58 of their 82 games, boasting a ludicrous 70.7% cover rate.

And they’ve proven nearly as dangerous this season, evidenced by a 57-point second half against New Hampshire en route to a backdoor cover and a 39-point victory.

The Huskies play a slow, methodical brand of basketball, too, ranking 299th in adjusted tempo, so 57 points in a single half is nothing short of sensational, regardless of their opponent.

Now, they will host Texas A&M-Commerce, a team that ranks 352nd in adjusted efficiency margin (KenPom) and 348th in BARTHAG (BartTorvik). 

Further, Torvik has the Lions ranked as the fifth-worst nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency. 

The Lions had already lost to No. 23 Texas A&M by 32 points despite the Aggies going 10-deep into their bench– what do you think UConn will do to them?

Unlike last season, the Huskies can’t lean on running opponents off the line and funneling them inside to challenge 7-foot-2 Clingan; however, they won’t need to worry about closing out hard against this Lions team that shoots 30% from 3-point land.

Further, the Huskies’ active defensive hands will force the Lions into a ridiculous amount of turnovers, as they are averaging the tenth-most turnovers in the country.

UConn could be within striking distance of covering this spread in the first half.