NCAAB

College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 11/13/19

Matt Hiatt Nov 13th, 2019
The Purdue versus Marquette Wednesday night matchup is full of fantasy goodness. Which other games should we be targeting?

College basketball season is upon us, and we have a six-game slate tonight.

March Madness is 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.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Guards

Markus Howard, Marquette ($8,600) - The reigning Big East Player of the Year spurned the NBA for another year in college. The prolific scorer poured in 38 points, grabbed five rebounds, assisted on two baskets, and recorded a steal in only 25 minutes of game time in the Marquette Golden Eagles' season opening win over the Loyola (MD) Greyhounds. Howard's minutes were down because Marquette jumped out to a huge lead and beat Loyola by 35. He still managed to hoist up 20 shots. With a competitive game on tap against the Purdue Boilermakers, expect the senior to log huge minutes and carry the load offensively.

Christian Vital, Connecticut ($8,000) - In two games (exhibition and season opener), the Connecticut Huskies' guard is filling up the stat sheets. In 56 minutes of action, Vital has 32 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists, 13 steals, and only five turnovers. That equates to a mind boggling 1.5 fantasy points per minutes. Up next is a phenomenal matchup with the Saint Joseph's Hawks. The Hawks play at one of the fastest paces in the country (11th in Ken Pom's adjusted tempo ranking) and they also do not defend (220th in Ken Pom's adjusted defense ranking). Vital is one of the top plays on this slate.

Darius Perry, Louisville ($4,900) - Perry is the starting point guard for the Louisville Cardinals. After struggling in the Cardinals' season opener, Perry bounced back with 10 points, five rebounds, 12 assists, one steal, and just one turnover in the team's second game of the season. With an implied team total nearing 85, he's one of the better values on tonight's slate.

Alterique Gilbert, Connecticut ($5,500) - The Huskies' point guard struggled in the season opener. In 31 minutes of action, Gilbert scored six points, recorded a rebound, stole a pass, and assisted on five baskets. His price tag is reflected by his opening night performance. In Connecticut's lone exhibition game, Gilbert scored 21 points, grabbed five rebounds, had three assists, and recorded two steals in 25 minutes action. He also took 15 shots in that game (five more than any other Husky). With an implied team total around 83, fire up the Connecticut point guard.

Nojel Eastern, Purdue ($5,000) - The starting point guard missed Purdue's exhibition game with a foot injury, and his status was a question mark for the season opener. The junior started the season opener and scored six points, grabbed two rebounds, had an assist, blocked a shot, and recorded three steals in 25 minutes before departing with a hand injury. It appears that Eastern is fully healthy after logging 31 minutes in the team's 70-66 loss to the Texas Longhorns in the second game of the season. He'll be needed to log heavy minutes in a matchup with Marquette's star point guard Marcus Howard.

Forwards

Jordan Nwora, Louisville ($7,800) - Nwora entered this season with massive expectations as he was named preseason ACC player of the year. The junior forward is averaging 22.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 0.5 block, and 1.0 steal through two games for the Cardinals. Nwora has an enticing matchup on Wednesday night as the Cardinals host the visiting Indiana State Sycamores. The Sycamores have a suspect defense (186th in Ken Pom's adjusted defense ranking) and play at a fast pace (70th in Ken Pom's adjusted tempo ranking).

Yor Anei, Oklahoma State ($7,100) - Anei is one of college basketball's top shot blockers. In the Oklahoma State Cowboys' final three games a season ago, Anei averaged 15.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.0 blocks. The sophomore center has picked up where he left off last season as he's averaging 13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks in the Cowboys' first two games of the season. Because of his shot blocking ability, his upside is enormous any time he takes the floor.

Matt Haarms, Purdue ($6,800) – We've seen the upside of Matt Haarms and the downside of Matt Haarms in Purdue's opening two regular season games. The Purdue center dominated the Green Bay Phoenix in the season opener. The sophomore scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds, assisted on three baskets, and blocked seven shots. In the second game against a stingy Texas frontcourt, the big man scored nine points, grabbed two rebounds, blocked one shot and turned it over four times. He also dealt with foul trouble in 22 minutes of action. Luckily, his price tag has been reduced significantly as a result of his performance against Texas.

Theo John, Marquette ($6,600) – The good news is that John is a monster fantasy point per minute producer. He's accrued 50.8 FanDuel points in 42 minutes through two games this season (exhibition game and season opener). That equates to 1.21 fantasy points per minute. The senior should play as many minutes as he can handle because his size is vital against a big Purdue lineup.

Brenden Bailey, Marquette ($3,700) - The former top-100 recruit coming out of high school played limited minutes as a freshman for the Golden Eagles. However, the sophomore has moved into the starting lineup this season. In Marquette's lone exhibition game, Bailey scored 15 points, blocked four shots, and recorded a steal in 22 minutes. In the season opener, Bailey scored three points, grabbed four rebounds, and recorded four assists while dealing with foul trouble in 21 minutes of action. Known as a defensive stopper, Bailey failed to record any defensive statistics in the season opener. The forward is underpriced considering his starting role and ability to rack up defensive statistics.


Matthew Hiatt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matthew Hiatt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username easternmh. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her 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.