South Carolina faces Temple, Mizzou faces UCF, and others on Nov. 30 SEC slate

What Happened Last Night

• Auburn 73, Dayton 60: The Auburn Tigers scored a surprisingly easy road win over the Dayton Flyers last night. The final margin was only 13 points, but Dayton never came within eight points in the second half and never really threatened after Auburn closed the first half on a 22-9 run. Mustapha Heron led Auburn with 21 points, but the real stars of the game came off the bench: Chuma Okeke had 15 points and 8 rebounds on 5-of-6 from the floor; Anfernee McLemore had 12 points, 13 boards, and 5 blocks.
• Tennessee 84, Mercer 60: This one was over quickly. The Tennessee Volunteers jumped out to a 28-7 lead over the Mercer Bears in the game’s first 12 minutes and never looked back after that, building a lead of as much as 30 in the second half. Grant Williams had 21 points for the Vols and Jordan Bowden added 18.
• Alabama 77, Louisiana Tech 74: This was the game of the night in the SEC. The Alabama Crimson Tide had to rally back from an 11-point second half deficit to overtake the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, who had a chance to send the game to overtime late but saw their last-second three-point attempt rim out. Collin Sexton and Dazon Ingram each had 22 points for the Tide, who improved to 5-1 on the season.
• LSU 84, UT-Martin 60: The LSU Tigers rebounded from two losses in Maui last week to easily put away the UT-Martin Skyhawks. Skylar Mays led the Tigers with 18 points; Tremont Waters had 10 assists.

Tonight’s Games

This is a sneaky good slate for late November, with three reasonably appealing games on the schedule. In the early game on the SEC Network, the 5-0 Mississippi State Bulldogs face a North Dakota State team that’s 3-3 and hung tough with USC earlier this season. The Bulldogs have had close calls against Stephen F. Austin and Jacksonville State their last two times out.

The Texas A&M Aggies host the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros at 8 PM ET; A&M is given a 100% chance of winning per KenPom, so you can probably skip this one unless you just like watching Tyler Davis bully people (which you do.)

The late games are intriguing. The South Carolina Gamecocks meet the Temple Owls in Madison Square Garden; Temple won the Charleston Classic a couple of weeks ago but picked up its first loss of the season at La Salle on Sunday. And the Missouri Tigers go against the country’s tallest player, UCF’s Tacko Fall, in Orlando.

Bad Gambling Advice

Last night: 3-1 ATS; Season to Date: 18-14 ATS

(No line on UTRGV-Texas A&M.)

• North Dakota State (+9) at Mississippi State: I haven’t decided yet if Mississippi State is actually bad or is just playing down to its competition, but I fully expect North Dakota State to keep this within single digits.
• South Carolina (pick) vs. Temple: This is just a straight pick ‘em on a neutral court, which means you really just have to pick the better team, which is probably South Carolina.
• Missouri (-2.5) at UCF: Missouri has been surprisingly solid without Michael Porter Jr., while early returns suggest that UCF -- in spite of being 4-2 and ranked #72 in KenPom right now — is secretly trash, particularly on the offensive end. I think Missouri wins this game.