College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 12/13/19

College basketball season is upon us, and we have a three-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 8:00 p.m. EST.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Guards

Tyler Bey, Colorado ($8,100) - The Colorado Buffaloes' star guard is a fantasy point per minute monster. Bey is averaging 1.21 fantasy points per minute this season. The matchup with Colorado State Rams should allow Bey to fill the stat sheet. The Rams rank 189th in Ken Pom's adjusted defense metric. It's not particularly difficult to pay up for Bey on this slate.

Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton ($7,600) - The Creighton Bluejays' guard has one of the highest ceilings in college basketball (topped 43 FanDuel points in two out of the last three games). Zegarowski plays a ton of minutes (35.2 per game) and is a volume shooter (14.4 field goal attempts per game). With Creighton carrying the highest implied team total on the slate (82), Zegarowski is one of the top plays.

McKinley Wright IV, Colorado ($6,700) - The Buffaloes' point guard plays a ton of minutes and leads the team in field goal attempts. Wright IV has logged at least 30 minutes in all nine games this season and is averaging 10.4 field goal attempts per game. Combine that with a juicy matchup against Colorado State's questionable defense, and Wright IV makes for a solid play on this short slate.

Devonte Green, Indiana ($5,400) - The senior can light it up in a hurry with the three-ball. Green isn't afraid to shoot, as he's averaging nearly 10 field goal attempts per game. His price remains low after back-to-back dismal games (held under 38% from the field in both games). However, I'd expect Green to bounce back against Nebraska and potentially have one of his best games of the season. The Cornhuskers are really struggling defensively (160th in Ken Pom's adjusted defense ranking).

Rob Phinisee, Indiana ($4,700) - The Indiana point guard made his return to the starting lineup against Connecticut after a four-game injury absence. In that game, he scored six points, grabbed four rebounds, and recorded two assists in only 13 minutes. His minutes should increase against Nebraska, but by how much is the question. If he plays 20-plus minutes, his production should crush his current price tag, as he produces .93 fantasy points per minute.

Forwards

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana ($7,200) - The freshman is posting monster numbers at home this season. TJD is averaging 15.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 3.1 blocks/steals in eight home games. Despite struggling in two straight games, the matchup with Nebraska at home is a good one. The Cornhuskers play really fast (27th in Ken Pom's adjusted tempo ranking), and they're not good defensively (as noted above).

Nico Carvacho, Colorado State ($6,800) - Carvacho entered the season as the Mountain West Conference's second all-time leading rebounder. The Colorado State center leads the Rams in points this season (averaging 13.3 points per game). Most importantly, he's recorded at least 20 FanDuel points in 11 out of 12 games. He provides a good floor at an affordable price tag.

Justin Smith, Indiana ($5,700) - The matchup with Nebraska should benefit Smith, as the Cornhuskers seemingly do not have anyone that matches up with the versatile forward. Producing 0.78 fantasy points per minute, Smith has played at least 31 minutes in four out of the last five games. His current production will smash his price tag with the heavy minutes that he's been logging (assuming value is 4x of player's price tag).

Evan Battey, Colorado ($5,100) - Battey is not a high-usage player, but his ability to contribute in every statistical category is good for DFS purposes. The sophomore is averaging 9.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists, and 1.4 blocks/steals in 22.8 minutes of action. Add in a matchup with a struggling Colorado State team, and Battey makes for a solid play at a cheap price tag.

Christian Bishop, Creighton ($4,900) - Bishop can pile up fantasy points in limited game action. The Creighton big man recorded 57.9 FanDuel points in the last two games despite playing only 48 minutes. He's worth the roll of the dice at 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.