College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 12/12/19

College basketball season is upon us, and we have a single-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.

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.

For those unfamiliar, single-game slates feature five flex spots with identical scoring to the main slate. However, there is an "MVP" roster slot, "STAR" roster spot, and "PRO" roster spot. The MVP receives 2 times his total fantasy points, the STAR receives 1.5 times his total fantasy points, and the PRO receives 1.2 times his total fantasy points, making these spots crucial.

Now that you're in the know, we can attack today's single-game slate, which locks at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

MVP/STAR/PRO Consideration

Luka Garza, Iowa ($13,500) - The Iowa Hawkeyes' center is off to a monster start this season. Garza is averaging 22.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, .9 assists, and 1.9 blocks/steals in 29.5 minutes of action. He's grabbed at least eight rebounds in all 10 games while scoring at least 14 points in nine games. The junior has become the Hawkeyes' focal point on offense as he's hoisted up 64 shots across the last three games.

Tyrese Haliburton, Iowa State ($14,000) - The sophomore has been dominant on both ends of the court so far this season. The emerging Haliburton is averaging 16.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 3.4 blocks/steals. He's also on the floor for nearly the entire game as he's averaging almost 36 minutes per night. The Iowa State Cyclones' guard should have no problem stuffing the stat sheet against the Hawkeyes' struggling defense (115th in Ken Pom's adjusted defense ranking).

Joe Wieskamp, Iowa ($12,000) - To be clear, I'm considering only Garza and Haliburton in the MVP slot. However, Wieskamp and Rasir Bolton (see below) are good candidates for the STAR or PRO slots. Wieskamp is Iowa's second best player, and he's coming off his best game of the season. The Iowa guard scored 23 points, grabbed six rebounds, assisted on two baskets, and recorded two steals in Iowa's 72-52 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Wieskamp leads the Hawkeyes in minutes per game (29.9) and ranks second in scoring (11.9 points per game).

Rasir Bolton, Iowa State ($11,500) - The ultra consistent Bolton has recorded at least 22.7 FanDuel points in five straight games. Noted as the Cyclones' best one-on-one offensive player, Bolton should have plenty of opportunities to make plays as Iowa will likely turn a ton of attention to defending Haliburton.

Value Plays

CJ Fredrick, Iowa ($8,000) - Fredrick's minutes have increased as of late. He logged 26 minutes or fewer in his first five games of the season (missed one game), but the freshman has logged at least 29 minutes in each of the last four games. Fredrick ranks third on the team in scoring (10.4 points per game). With an increase in tempo expected against the Cyclones, the Iowa guard should have plenty of opportunities to make a dent in the stat sheet. Iowa State is 29th in Ken Pom's adjusted tempo ranking while Iowa is 119th.

Solomon Young, Iowa State ($7,500) - On short slates and single-game slates I tend to flock to players who are solid fantasy point-per-minute producers. While Young rarely plays more than 20 minutes per game, he is averaging 0.87 fantasy points per minute. Despite carrying one of the cheapest price tags on the slate, the Iowa State forward has 30-FanDuel-point upside.

Joe Toussaint, Iowa ($7,500) - Toussaint is averaging only 14.8 minutes per game this season. However, he has the ability to rack up fantasy points in hurry as he's producing exactly 1.0 fantasy point per minute. If his minutes get extended at all, his production should pay off his cheap price tag.

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.