College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 1/30/19

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

March Madness is still two 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 12 games. Five ranked teams will take the floor, including 20th-ranked Iowa State at home against a struggling West Virginia squad.

Which players should you be targeting and why?

Guards

Phil Booth, Villanova ($8,400): Tonight's massive slate contains eight guards priced at or above $8,000, five of whom are averaging at least 30 FanDuel points. Villanova's Phil Booth is not one, as he's averaging just 29.1 for the year, though his numbers have been held down primarily from his early-season play. Since the calendar flipped to Big East play, the 6'3" senior has really turned it on, averaging 36.1 FanDuel points on 21.9 points, 5.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks-plus-steals per game. He's shooting 48.0% from floor and 48.3% from three while posting a usage of 27.5% in seven conference matchups. Wednesday's opponent, DePaul ranks 141st in KenPom.com's adjusted defensive efficiency, which has the Wildcats implied at 76.75 points. That's ninth on the slate, so if you're really lucky you'll even get Booth at discounted ownership in a road matchup.

Jaylen Hands, UCLA ($7,200): Also on the road, UCLA sports an implied total (83.75) a whole seven points higher than that of Villanova. In fact, that number is second on the slate by a slim margin, as the Bruins enter tonight as 5.5-point favorites against Washington State. They are projected to outscore their season average in large part because of the Cougars' 298th-ranked defense, which has surrendered, on average, 78.0 points per game and 81.4 in conference play. The opportunities for points and assists will be plenty, and that plays right into the hands -- no pun intended -- of the Bruins' sophomore guard. Hands is averaging 12.0 points, 6.5 assists and a total of 26.0 FanDuel points on a juicy 23.5% usage rate and 37.8% assist rate. He has just as high of a ceiling as higher-priced teammate Kris Wilkes ($8,500).

Talen Horton-Tucker, Iowa State ($6,700): Involved in a game with a 148.5 over/under and a 80.25 implied total, all the Iowa State guards are worth a long look this evening. However, between the high-priced Marial Shayok ($7,700) and other lower-priced options, fantasy freshman Talen Horton-Tucker makes for a great play in a projected high-scoring game. West Virginia ranks outside the top 100 in adjusted defense and has given up 80-plus points in four of their past five games. Plus, Horton-Tucker is a game removed from scoring 23 points on 11-of-18 shooting, suggesting that his early-season form is back just in time for him to explode in an exploitable matchup.

Davion Mintz, Creighton ($6,100): Hosting St. John's, Creighton has a monster 84.25 implied total as five-point home favorites. Even for a team averaging 83.5 for the year (20th in the nation) that's a step up in production and fantasy appeal. There are a lot of players we can look to for the Jays, but Mintz has been playing great recently. The junior guard is averaging 10.5 points for the year but has 14 or more in three straight en route to 25.8, 29.5 and 29.2 FanDuel points, respectively. Each of those would be good enough for more than four-times value (4.0 points per $1,000; 24.4) at this price. And that's without accounting for their opponent's pace of play, which is 1.6 possessions faster than the already quick Creighton offense.

Prince Ali, UCLA ($5,500): Returning to UCLA's high total, you're going to want at least a couple pieces of the pie in tonight's more than favorable matchup. And in value range we get a prime candidate in Ali, who has been a bit inconsistent but has shown a ceiling well above his salary implied total (22.0). On four different occasions this year he has reached at least 27.5 FanDuel points with UCLA totaling 80 points or more in three of them. Ali got up double-digit shots in each, and he has done that in three of the last five. He's fresh off two sub-20-point duds, so he might be another guy to carry lower ownership relative to the game script here.

Forwards

Robert Franks, Washington State ($8,200): If it wasn't already obvious, stacking this UCLA/WSU clash is certainly in play. After all, the home Cougars maintain a 78.25-point total, and although they rank 55th in adjusted tempo, they get a slight boost against a Bruins team ranked 13th in that category, averaging nearly three more possessions per game. Franks checks in at the top of those who should see their ceiling raised, as the senior forward is averaging 21.2 points and 34.0 FanDuel points over a team-high 33.3 minutes a game. And in conference play his 29.2% usage rate is accompanied by a 24.6% defensive rebound rate and a 20.2 player efficiency rating.

Martin Krampelj, Creighton ($7,100): Rostering one of the Creighton guards and stacking him with Krampelj seems like a no-brainer. Again, they have the top team total on the board, and the 163.5 over/under is 1.5 clear of the next game. Much like his teammate, Mintz, Krampelj is playing great basketball in conference play. The 6'9" Slovenian is averaging 14.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 29.0 FanDuel points in 31.0 minutes through seven Big East games, all while posting a 128.2 offensive rating and 20.5% usage rate. Don't overthink it in such a fantasy-friendly environment.

Marvin Clark II, St. John's ($6,400): Opposite Krampelj and company, the Red Storm are primarily a guard-heavy team, but Clark stands out down low. The Michigan State transfer averages 22.8 FanDuel points on 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds. He isn't going to get up the most shots, but he's close to 10 a game in conference play so far. His rebounds have also seen a slight bump to 6.6 a game, and that's a spot where Creighton can be taken advantage of. They are outside the top 100 in defensive rebounding and sit 159th in total rebounding rate (50.8%). Clark should have no problem racking up the fantasy points in a high-scoring affair out in Omaha.

Eric Curry, Minnesota ($4,900): Fellow Minnesota frontcourt member Daniel Oturu is considered a game-time decision and termed as questionable unofficially. Oturu is dealing with a shoulder injury that kept him out of the last game, during which Curry played 28 minutes, turning in 14.9 FanDuel points. That marks the third straight game of 25-plus minutes for Curry, who missed a chunk of the start of the year due to an injury of his own. If Oturu is out, Curry should see a larger workload at home against Illinois. All he needs is 19.6 for four-times value, and that's a number he flew past just two games ago. But if Oturu is in, pivot to Auburn's Anfernee McLemore ($5,600) with Austin Wiley out against Missouri.

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.