NCAAB

College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 12/11/18

Colorado's McKinley Wright IV is in an elite spot against a fast-paced New Mexico team. Who else should you target on tonight's four-game slate?

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 four games, including a Big 5 clash between the 17th-ranked Villanova Wildcats and the Pennsylvania Quakers.

Tuesday, December 11th
Georgia Southern at UCF
#17 Villanova at Penn
Colorado at New Mexico
North Florida at Minnesota


Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Guards

McKinley Wright IV, Colorado ($8,100): Wright is the highest-priced guard and third-most expensive player overall on the slate. And if you know anything about Wright and the Colorado Buffaloes you'd know that he is entirely worth it. So far this season, the sophomore guard sports a team-high 25.1% usage rate (per Sports Reference) en route to 15.1 points, 6.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game (31.6 FanDuel points). Tonight, those numbers could be the mere baseline for Wright, as the Buffs enter with a 85.5 implied total thanks to the night's largest over/under (166.0). Per KenPom.com, their opponent -- the New Mexico Lobos -- actually average 1.9 more possessions per game than the already quick-paced Buffaloes (42nd in adjusted tempo).

Amir Coffey, Minnesota ($7,200): Looking beyond that Colorado/New Mexico tilt, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have the single-highest implied total (85.75) of all eight teams going. In hosting North Florida, Coffey and the Gophers draw a team ranked 255th in adjusted defensive efficiency and 26th in adjusted tempo. The Ospreys allow 77.6 points on 74.5 adjusted possessions per game, giving Minnesota quite a boost in the scoring department. For Coffey, the absence of Dupree McBrayer (personal) could turn into more minutes and shots for the 6'8" junior. Coffey's is already scoring 15.8 points while getting up 11.2 shot attempts per game, but McBrayer being out opens up 8.1 shots a game and 18.1% of the team's offensive possessions. He's just a game removed from a 48.2-FanDuel-point outing, and given the matchup, his ceiling is as high as ever here.

Terrell Allen, UCF ($5,700): For all the love and ownership Colorado and Minnesota should garner, UCF could fly under the radar as a 12-point home favorite against Georgia Southern. But a 79.5 implied total is far from something to fade on a short slate, so you'll want at least a piece of this one. After all, the Eagles are eighth in Ken Pom's adjusted tempo, playing at a pace nearly 11 possessions faster than the Golden Knights. Don't be surprised if UCF blows past 80 points, with Allen a big part of the blowout. The junior averages just 8.6 points and 21.4 FanDuel points, but he has four or more assists in every game and two-plus steals in four of nine. He's always good for some rebounds, too, and if the scoring is up he's a candidate for five-times value.

Gabe Kalscheur, Minnesota ($5,600): Kalscheur isn't someone you're looking to get 25-plus FanDuel points from, being that he's averaging 16.8 and has just a single game (30.1) over 21.9. However, he too should see a bump in opportunities, and we could see him around 30-plus minutes compared to the 29.1 he usually gets. At this price, 22.4 FanDuel points is enough for four-times value and is certainly in play given an implied total over 10 points higher than the Gophers' season average to this point.

Joey Cremo, Villanova ($4,800): We shouldn't forget about the defending champs just because they don't have as spicy of an implied total as they match up with Big 5 rival Penn at The Palestra. Their 73.5 total is just 1.5 below their season average, though higher than their final total in three of their last four. The Quakers play at a pretty average pace but much quicker than the Wildcats, which is too 'Nova's favor with Penn's 94th-ranked defense going up against their 13th-ranked offense. Lower-priced players like Cremo could take advantage, especially if the Wildcats gain separation rather early. At this low price, Cremo's worth targeting off the bench, as he has tallied at least 15 FanDuel points in 5 of 10 games. That's all you need so long as your high-priced stud hits his expected total.

Forwards

Jordan Murphy, Minnesota ($8,500): Much like Wright among the guards, Murphy is justifiably the top-priced forward -- and player overall -- for a reason. He's averaging 33.3 FanDuel points, which trails only UNF's Noah Horchler among players in action for the slate. That fantasy production stems from 14.4 points, 12.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists, along with 1.1 blocks-plus-steals per game. His 25.0% usage is first among Minnesota starters, and he could see more opportunities with McBreyer out as well.

Vance Jackson, New Mexico ($6,800): While Colorado's 98 spots higher than New Mexico in Ken Pom's adjusted efficiency margin, they are just five-point road favorites. What that means is that the Lobos are still implied at 80.5, or the third-most on Tuesday's main slate. Someone's going to put up points, and teammate Corey Manigault's status is unknown at this time, following his role in an altercation last week. That could leave more work to Jackson, who is second on the team in both points per game (13.1) and usage rate (24.8%) -- the latter of which is bested only by Manigault. Averaging 24.5 FanDuel points with two games of 35-plus, Jackson is a nice mid-range play below $7,000.

Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, Villanova ($6,100): Cosby-Roundtree might be the single best point-per-dollar play on the slate. He's started all but one game this season and has played 24.2 minutes a game despite four games of at least four personal fouls. Four times this season he's played at least 26 minutes, averaging 33.0 FanDuel points in those contests. Now, he's cooled off with three straight games of no more than 17.5, but the big game is there waiting to be had. Leading the team with 8.0 rebounds a game, he could blow up against a Penn team in the middle of the pack in rebound percentage.

Lucas Siewert, Colorado ($5,900): Just like Wright, Siewert should benefit from the uptempo game out in Albuquerque. His 20.0 FanDuel points per game aren't all that exciting, but we've seen the 6'10" junior show out at points this year. Prior to totals of 12.7 and 11.9 over the last two, Siewert notched two straight double-doubles with 29.0 and 27.5 FanDuel points, respectively. He has a respectable 20.0% usage rate, which he's coupled with a 20.5% defensive rebounding rate and 13.3% total rebounding rate. New Mexico's 46.3% rebounding rate checks in 320th of 353 teams.



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.