Some bad but largely expected news for West Virginia’s hoops team as RaeQuan Battle, who averaged 17.7 points per game at Montana State last season, was denied an appeal of his request for a waiver to play this season by the NCAA. Battle, a two-time transfer who had previously played at Washington and Montana State before transferring to West Virginia this year, had his initial waiver request for immediate eligibility denied by the NCAA. West Virginia appealed that decision on his behalf, but the NCAA denied the appeal, so he’ll have to wait until the 2023-24 season. Here are two intriguing early-week games.

Top NCAAB Betting Picks of the Week (November 27th, 2023)

New Hampshire Wildcats vs. UConn Huskies

• When: Monday, November 27th, 2023, 7:00 PM ET
• Where: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, CT
• TV: CBSSN
• Radio: WQSO 96.7 FM Rochester (New Hampshire) // 97.9 FM ESPN (UConn)
• Live Stream: CBS Sports
• NCAAB Betting Odds: TBA

The Huskies can make history by thumping the Rams, as UConn has won 23 straight non-conference games by double digits, which includes the 2023 NCAA Tournament title run. That has tied the 2008-09 North Carolina Tar Heels for most consecutive victories in that fashion.

“Obviously, it’s in the back of our heads,” UConn’s Donovan Clingan said. “We’re trying to go be a part of history and do something no team has done.”

Tristen Newton recorded his third career triple-double Friday in a 90-60 win over Manhattan. Newton, the 6-foot-5 graduate student, finished with 15 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, receiving a huge ovation from the 15,000 fans when he pulled down his 10th board in the second half and was subbed out. Newton third on the Huskies in scoring with 15.3 points per game and leads UConn in both rebounding at 7.8 per game and assists with 6.8 per contest. He became UConn’s all-time triple-double king in the win over Manhattan.

UConn shot a season-high 58.1 percent overall and 45.0 percent from 3-point range. In support of Newton’s triple-double, Cam Spencer scored 18 points and Clingan chipped in 17 on 7-of-11 shooting. UConn has stormed out to a 6-0 start behind an efficient, high-powered offense and a stingy defense. The Huskies currently rank first in the Big East and top-20 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense and are third in the country in scoring margin. Five players average at least 12.7 points per game, led by Spencer at 16.2 per game and Alex Karaban at 16.0 per game.

New Hampshire is 4-2 following an 83-80 win over Fairfield on Friday. Junior guard Ahmad Robinson scored four points in the final 14 seconds of the game for the Wildcats. Grad student guard Naim Miller and grad student forward Jaxson Baker both recorded career highs as Wildcats in scoring. Miller drained 20 points and Baker scored 16 in the contest. The Wildcats shot 44.8% from beyond the arc.

The Wildcats lead the America East in scoring, averaging 82.2 points per game. They rank second in 3-PT field goals made, averaging 10.0 a game. UNH averages 40.3 rebounds as a team, placing them second in the conference in the stat. That includes an average of 30.0 defensive rebounds a game. The ‘Cats average 8.6 steals a game, placing them second in the America East. Clarence Daniels leads the league in scoring averaging 20.8 points per game. He also ranks second in rebounding with 9.0 per game.

UConn leads the all-time series with their former Yankee conference-mates, 94-25, in a series dating all the way back to 1906-07. The last time the ‘Cats and Huskies competed, UConn came out on top with an 88-62 victory on Dec. 22, 2019 in Hartford.

NCAAB Betting Pick: UConn

Miami Hurricanes vs. Kentucky Wildcats

• When: Tuesday, November 28th, 2023, 7:30 PM ET
• Where: Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY
• TV: ESPN
• Radio: WVUM 90.5 FM (Miami) // 840 AM (Kentucky)
• Live Stream: WatchESPN
• NCAAB Betting Odds: TBA

This could be a Final Four preview in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge. Miami got there last year. The Canes are 5-0 but haven’t played since beating a good Kansas State team 91-83 on Nov. 19 in a neutral site holiday event to win the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship title. The Hurricanes have appeared in 18 straight AP polls, breaking the school record set during the 2015-16 season. Fourth-year junior Nijel Pack was named the tournament’s most valuable player after averaging 22.0 points per game and shooting 47.1 percent from 3-point range. Pack broke the tournament record for total points (44) in the tournament and single-game scoring with 28 points against Kansas State. The guard led all scorers in the game, while knocking down 7-of-12 shots from beyond the arc. “We got a tremendous contribution, offensively, from Nijel Pack,” Coach Jim Larrañaga said. “He was on fire in the first half and terrific in the second half.” Fourth-year junior forward Norchad Omier recorded his second 20-point game of the season with 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting and led the Hurricanes on the boards at seven. Juniors Matthew Cleveland and Wooga Poplar also scored in double-figures, tallying 15 points each. The Hurricanes currently average 14.7 seconds per possession. Miami ranks 15th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency (114.6) per KenPom. UM is 19th nationally in effective field goal percentage at .610. Miami has made every trip to the charity stripe count this season, shooting 82.5 percent. That’s ninth in the national and first in the ACC. Kentucky (5-1) has been off since a 118-82 rout of Marshall on Friday. Kentucky put up 69 points in the first half, the most points ever scored by any team in a half at Rupp Arena history. The 69 points were also the fourth-highest first half total in Kentucky’s basketball history. The 118 points marked the most ever scored by a John Calipari-coached Kentucky team. D.J. Wagner had 28 points to lead Kentucky in scoring. Antonio Reeves had 23 points for the Cats and Tre Mitchell had 18. Rob Dillingham hit seven of his eight shots on his way to 16 points, while Reed Sheppard had 12 and Justin Edwards added 10. Four of those players (Reeves 15; Mitchell 14; Wagner 13; and Edwards 10) had double figures in points by halftime. Kentucky shot 60.8% from the field (45 of 74). It is UK’s third straight game over 50% and second this season of at least 60%. “We played good. It was based on assists, shots made,” Calipari said. “We’re creating great opportunities for guys who can shoot. If you have a bunch of guys who can shoot like this, you play this way.” Kentucky has now scored at least 81 points in each of its first six games. The last time the Cats did that was in the 1970-71 season.

NCAAB Betting Pick: Kentucky

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