NCAAB

College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 11/29/18

Brett Oswalt  —  @bRo14thekid Nov 29th, 2018
SMU's Jahmal McMurray could be in for a big night with a poor McNeese State team on tap. Which other players are worth a look on Thursday?

College basketball season is back! And this year, with it comes the return of college basketball DFS.

March Madness is still four months away, but you can get in all the college hoops hype by playing daily contests at FanDuel today. If you've played NBA DFS before, it's quite simple: pick a total of eight players -- four guards, three forwards and one utility spot you can use for either position. Stay within the $50,000 salary cap and field the team you think will score the most fantasy points.

Where scoring differs from NBA is in the blocks and steals categories, with each worth two FanDuel points apiece rather than the three you get in daily NBA contests.

Now that you're in the know, we can attack today's main slate, which locks at 7:00 p.m. EST and consists of only three games, with only the Arizona Wildcats and SMU Mustangs carrying implied totals higher than 75, at 81.25 and 80.00, respectively.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Guards

Jahmal McMurray, SMU ($8,100): In a matchup with McNeese State, SMU players come into tonight with oodles of upside. Built into that high implied total is their opponent's 333rd-ranked defense, per KenPom.com's adjusted efficiency. The Cowboys, out of the Southland Conference, have allowed 69.6 points per game, including three games allowing at least 79 points. McMurray should be at the very top of our wish list in this spot. The senior guard is averaging 26.5 FanDuel points with a team-high 18.7 points and 14.1 field goal attempts (9.1 from three) per game. His 25.5% usage rate is second on the team, so we should expect the ball to be in his hands a lot this evening.

Jimmy Whitt Jr., SMU ($7,600): Whitt is a great pivot off of McMurray in either format. He should carry lower ownership, though, after scoring just a single point with 16 FanDuel points last game out against Lamar, making him a much better tourney option than cash play. But this could be a boom scoring night for him. We've already seen the 6'4" junior go for 18, 19 and 20 real-world points this year, and he's managed at least 30 FanDuel points in four of his seven contests. Whitt has played 32 or more minutes in 5 games this season, elevating both his floor and ceiling for fantasy purposes.

Brandon Williams, Arizona ($5,800): The SMU love is warranted, but the same goes for the Arizona guards. It might be tough to choose, considering Brandon Randolph averages the most FanDuel points per game (23.1) to this point. But for my money, Williams is the play against Georgia Southern. Not only is his usage rate a mere 2.7% lower than Randolph's, his 23.2% assist rate leads the Wildcats. He has three games with at least five assists this year, and he's averaged 24.8 FanDuel points across the three. He's in a bounce-back spot against an Eagles team playing at a top-10 adjusted tempo and allowing 101.2 adjusted points per 100 possessions.

Ike Smith, Georgia Southern ($5,500): On the flip side of the matchup, someone has to produce to keep this one as close as the oddsmakers expect. After all, GSU is just a 10-point 'dog with a respectable 71.25 implied total on the road. And that's where a guy like Smith comes in. Like with Whitt, recency bias could affect his ownership, but let that be the loss of other. Before a 8.3-FanDuel-point stinker, Smith averaged 24.7 FanDuel points with at least 13 real-world points in the season's first five games. He's averaging 12.2 shot attempts, and he seems bound to hit more moving forward. After shooting 29.2% from three a year ago, the senior has struggled this year, making just 18.8% of his 5.3 attempts from deep. In the highest-projected game of the night, look for Smith to put up a worthwhile stat line.

Nat Dixon, SMU ($4,400): To answer your question, no, three SMU guards are not too many. After all, you're not looking for 30-plus out of Dixon. He's a punt play, and one you are hoping to get double-digit FanDuel points from -- or maybe even hit 4.0 points per $1,000 in salary (which would be 17.6 at this price). And that is within the realm of possibilities, with Dixon playing at least 30 minutes in four straight and 27 in each game this year. Even if he doesn't find his way to 10 FanDuel points, he's the key to unlock two of the top guys -- maybe his teammates -- priced above $7,000 tonight.

Forwards

Ethan Chargois, SMU ($8,300): One of those guys who Dixon can help you get up to is his fellow 'Stang Ethan Chargois. The 6'9" sophomore has really showed out early on in 2018, averaging 15.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 blocks per game (28.2 FanDuel points total). He has run into some foul trouble at times, which has limited him to 22 or fewer minutes on two different occasions. However, he has 40-FanDuel-point upside as he's hit at least 39.7 fantasy points twice en route to an average of 33.7 per game when we take out the two minutes-capped games. The big reason is that Chargois is a key element to the SMU offense, using a team-high 29.0% of their offensive possessions while taking 11.0 field goals and attempting 4.7 shots per game from the line. He's the SMU player most likely to reach or exceed 40 FanDuel points.

Montae Glenn, Georgia Southern ($6,200): Joining Ike Smith on the side of the Eagles, Glenn is the team's top rebounder, averaging 7.7 rebounds in 27.3 minutes a game. He's also contributing 11.3 points, 1.0 blocks, 0.8 assists and 0.8 steals. He's an active player at 6'8", and he's shown that he has a decent floor to work with. His lowest game of the year is 16.4 FanDuel points, but he has two with at least 26.1, including an impressive double-double (27.4 FanDuel points) in the second game of the year. In this price range, he's a good guy to help fill out an Arizona/SMU-heavy roster.

Chase Jeter, Arizona ($6,100): Combating Glenn down low will be 'Zona big man Chase Jeter. The former Duke Blue Devil is enjoying a productive first year out West as he's averaged 11.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks-plus-steals (21.5 FanDuel points). All of this has come in just 24.7 minutes a game despite starting all six matchups. However, Jeter's played 23 or more minutes in four of them, averaging 24.0 FanDuel points when given that extra playing time. Given Glenn's ability down low, Jeter should be in for heavy minutes if he can avoid foul trouble. In a perfect world, both players will take advantage of a loose, high-scoring game.

Isiaha Mike, SMU ($5,000): In case you didn't have enough Mustangs already, Mike is a great form of salary relief, especially if you opt against Dixon at the guard spot. In the last three games, he has logged 30, 31 and 31 minutes, respectively, after playing no more than 27 minutes through the first four. Furthermore, he is coming off of his best game of the year -- a 16-point, 26.6-FanDuel-point outing on Tuesday. If he receives the same amount of run again, he shouldn't have a problem reaching four-times value (20 FanDuel points) in Thursday's soft matchup.


Brett Oswalt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett Oswalt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BRO14THEKID. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.