This article is part of our DFS College Basketball series.
Sunday brings a five game slate on DraftKings, hosting their $10 Big Jam Contest with $3K up for grabs including $1K to first. FanDuel has its own five game slate, with three games overlapping the main slate on DraftKings. The slate features five teams in the AP top-25, including a matchup between Villanova and Baylor. Let's get on to the action.
Top Players
Colin Castleton, F, Florida ($9,100 DK, $8,400 FD)
Castleton continues to lead the Gators on both sides of the ball. He is averaging 15.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.8 blocks in 27 minutes. The forward is a guarantee for at least 25 DK points with the potential to put up 50. He continues to have a usage rate around 30 percent, which is one of the highest on the slate. Maryland has the manpower to give Florida some trouble, but the gators are still favored by five points. Castleton performs his best in close contests when Florida is on the winning side. On FanDuel, he offers an even better value.
Jaden Ivey, G, Purdue ($8,000 DK, $7,200 FD)
Purdue is the second-heaviest favorite on the slate, and they are not going to take it easy after losing to Rutgers on Thursday. Ivey has scored in double digits in each of his last seven games, and is the team's leading scorer. He is averaging 15.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals in 29 minutes. He has a 25.2 percent usage rate and has the most playing time for the Boilermakers while averaging 31.6 DK points. Much like Colin Castleton, Ivey is a bigger steal on FanDuel, but still offers good value on DraftKings.
Middle Tier
Justyn Mutts, F, Virginia Tech, ($6,900 DK)
There are many good value picks on both sides in this game, but Mutts is the most consistent of them all. He's topped 30 DK points twice this season while producing at least 20 DK points in all 10 games. This is projected to be a close game with the Hokies favored by two, so it's likely Mutts will play around 30 minutes. Mutts averages 10.3 points/game and is the team's leading rebounder with 7.2 rebounds/game. He's scored in double digits in each of his last three games and is up to a 21.5 percent usage rate.
Drew Peterson, G, USC, ($6,500 DK)
The Trojans are 25.5-point favorites, and they have scored at least 80 points in two of their last three games. They are good at spreading the ball, with four players averaging double digits. Peterson is one of them, averaging 10.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 blocks in 29 minutes. He is averaging 25.5 DK points/game this season, but has surpassed that total in each of his last four games. While Isaiah Mobley ($8,900 DK) is another great pick and will likely score more, Peterson has a high chance to offer more value with his lower salary.
Value Plays
Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, F, Baylor ($4,700 DK, $5,900 FD)
Tchamwa Tchatchoua is coming off one of his best career games and has seen at least 21 minutes of playing time in each of his last three games. Despite coming off the bench, he continues to outperform Flo Thamba and is slowly being rewarded with more looks on offense. He is averaging 8.4 points/game, but has scored in double digits in the three contests. At this salary, he doesn't have to score a whole lot and he's averaging just over 20 DK points/game this season. In addition, he leads the Bears in rebounds, with 8.3/game.
Joel Murray, G, Long Beach State, ($4,200 DK)
Murray is the rare exception where he leads his team in points (16.3/game), minutes (29.8/game) and usage rate (28.6 percent) and still has a salary this low. However, the catch is that they are 25.5-point underdogs against USC, but it's still the game with the highest projected point total (147.5) on the slate. Murray averages 24.9 DK points, which is almost 6x value at his current salary.
