This article is part of our DFS College Basketball series.
This article is part of our DFS College Basketball series.
Top Players:
Ethan Happ ($9,000 FD, $11,100 DK): Happ has been somewhat unpredictable and his DraftKings price makes him slighter harder to use. Even at FanDuel, you're banking on a guy that hasn't surpassed 27 fantasy points in his last three road games. Sure, Minnesota has had issues against bigs and Happ managed 36.1 FD points against them a month ago, but that was in Madison. Because of that, he makes a little more sense in GPP as his ownership should be smaller than usual. He could either battle foul trouble against Jordan Murphy and get 25 fantasy points or dominate Murphy in the paint and reach close to 50 points.
Tremont Waters ($8,800 FD, $8,600 DK): Waters is another guy that will have a random down game and go off when the numbers don't suggest it (36 real-life points in recent 72-57 win). The good news is that Mississippi State will run if the opportunity presents itself, scoring at least 79 points in each of the last three games. This should be a competitive game and one that favors Waters as the Bulldogs have one of the worst three-point defenses in the SEC. But even when Waters doesn't score, his floor is often above 30 fantasy points because he averages six assists and three steals per game. The other bonus is that Mississippi State turns it over on almost 20 percent of possessions in conference play. Of course, his price makes
This article is part of our DFS College Basketball series.
Top Players:
Ethan Happ ($9,000 FD, $11,100 DK): Happ has been somewhat unpredictable and his DraftKings price makes him slighter harder to use. Even at FanDuel, you're banking on a guy that hasn't surpassed 27 fantasy points in his last three road games. Sure, Minnesota has had issues against bigs and Happ managed 36.1 FD points against them a month ago, but that was in Madison. Because of that, he makes a little more sense in GPP as his ownership should be smaller than usual. He could either battle foul trouble against Jordan Murphy and get 25 fantasy points or dominate Murphy in the paint and reach close to 50 points.
Tremont Waters ($8,800 FD, $8,600 DK): Waters is another guy that will have a random down game and go off when the numbers don't suggest it (36 real-life points in recent 72-57 win). The good news is that Mississippi State will run if the opportunity presents itself, scoring at least 79 points in each of the last three games. This should be a competitive game and one that favors Waters as the Bulldogs have one of the worst three-point defenses in the SEC. But even when Waters doesn't score, his floor is often above 30 fantasy points because he averages six assists and three steals per game. The other bonus is that Mississippi State turns it over on almost 20 percent of possessions in conference play. Of course, his price makes a little more sense at DK.
Alpha Diallo ($8,400 FD, $9,500 DK): If you want to save some money in FD and guarantee you get at least 30 fantasy points, Diallo is the answer. However, his price is a bit extreme at DK having failed to surpass 38 DK points in the last six games. The upside and the main reason people will back Diallo is because of his last performance against Georgetown in which he had 24 points, 13 boards and six assists. The downside is that came in double overtime and he hasn't been close to those numbers in any other contest. Diallo provides consistency, but playing at home, the Friars will prefer to slow the game down.
John Mooney ($8,500 FD, $9,000 DK): Mooney is no longer putting up monster outings, but some of that has to do with schedule. Even then, he still racked up double-doubles against Duke and Virginia and has one in the last eight games. The bigger worry is that he played only 30 minutes against Boston College last game and a reason he was going for 15 and 15 almost every night was because he was averaging around 35 minutes. To help, Miami's big men Ebuka Izundu and Sam Waardenburg often play at the same time and that could mean more Mooney. The other reason Mooney should easily hit 30 fantasy points is that Miami ranks 14th in the ACC in both offensive and defensive rebounding.
Games/Teams to Target:
LSU at Mississippi State (-3) o/u 155.5, 9 p.m. EST:
I already talked about Waters, but he's one of many viable plays in this game. Sticking with LSU, the team is loaded with mid-range options, though Skylar Mays ($7,000 FD, $6,600 DK) and Naz Reid ($6,700 FD, $6,400 DK) are a bit pricey at FD. Ja'vonte Smart ($5,800 FD, $5,500 DK) is the best play for cash games while Kavell Bigby-Williams ($5,700 FD, $5,300 DK) has more variance since his playing time is all over the place. Marlon Taylor ($4,900 FD, $4,400 DK) is viable as a punt since he always hits double-digit fantasy points, but has some upside averaging almost 30 minutes per game. For the Bulldogs, Reggie Perry ($5,200 FD, $5,400 DK) should be in most rosters, though expecting another 21-point, 11-board effort is a stretch. Either way, he's cheap and has hit at least 22 fantasy points in the last three games, while Aric Holman ($7,200 FD, $7,400 DK) has slipped and is close to unusable in cash. Quinndary Weatherspoon ($8,300 FD, $8,200 DK) has scored 27 real-life points in two of the last three games and against a team that struggles to defend inside the arc, he could capitalize. Lamar Peters ($6,500 FD, $6,700 DK) is viable, but Abdul Ado ($4,800 FD, $4,700 DK) and Robert Woodard II ($4,600 FD, $4,100 DK) have both been getting around 20 minutes per game and that's useful for value plays in a high-scoring game. Nick Weatherspoon ($6,000 FD, $5,000 DK) is worth a look in DK, but should be avoided in FD.
Games/Teams to Avoid:
Clemson (-3.5) at Georgia Tech, o/u 127.5, 7 p.m. EST:
It'll be tough to back anyone in this game because not only do both rate terrible in offensive efficiency, but both are above average defensively. When these teams met a few weeks ago, both teams were surprisingly efficient in a 72-60 Clemson win, but it'll be tough to expect 1.16 points per possession for the Tigers again. If you want to save money, Abdoulaye Gueye ($5,500 FD, DK) makes some sense because he has at least 20 fantasy points in his last four starts and missed the first meeting. Clemson has more viable options, but most of them are overpriced with Marcquise Reed ($7,900 FD, $8,700 DK) and Elijah Thomas ($8,200 FD, $7,600 DK) highlighting that. They can both put in huge outings, but neither are consistent and trusting them on the road isn't a great strategy. Otherwise, it's the same situation as GT with a lack of upside and minimal floors.
Value Plays:
In addition to the slew of options in the LSU-Mississippi State game, there are plenty other spots to target for decent value.
Saddiq Bey, Villanova ($5,000 FD, $5,700 DK): Bey completely busted against Georgetown, but he has the potential to play 30 minutes against a bad Creighton defense and that's enough to consider him at FanDuel.
Sam Waardenburg, Miami ($5,000 FD, $4,300 DK): Someone has to guard Mooney and Waardenburg has played at least 30 minutes in each of the last two games. Since Miami has had major rebounding issues, he's been used a little more and that could push his minutes to 30 again.
Nikola Djogo, Notre Dame ($4,100 FD, $3,300 DK): Djogo has seen his minutes steadily rise and that resulted in his best performance of the season last game, producing 25.6 FD points. If he gets another start, he'll be hard to pass up.
Daylen Kountz, Colorado ($4,100 FD, $3,800 DK): I can always support backing a player against UCLA and Kountz has potential with at least 21 minutes played in seven of the last eight games. He doesn't have much upside, but if he can get 15 fantasy points, that's enough for the price.
