NCAAB

College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 1/24/20

Matt Hiatt Jan 24th, 2020
Markus Howard headlines Friday night's two-game slate. Who else should we be targeting?

College basketball season is entering conference play, and we have a two-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 ($8,500) - Price isn't really a factor on this two-game slate. Howard is easily the top overall play and there's no reason to fade him. The Marquette Golden Eagles' guard is leading the nation in scoring (28.4 per game). He owns a monster usage rate of 38.4% and takes 42.5% of the team's shots when he's on the floor per KenPom.

Kamar Baldwin, Butler ($6,600) - Baldwin owns a 29.9% usage rate and takes 35.0% of the Butler Bulldogs' shots when he's on the floor per KenPom. Both of which are team highs. The matchup with Marquette is a massive pace-up game for the Bulldogs. Butler is 325th in KenPom's adjusted tempo ratings while Marquette is 40th. Baldwin has recorded at least 21.4 FanDuel points in six consecutive games.

Sacar Anim, Marquette ($6,300) - Anim's 30.6 minutes per game leads the Golden Eagles while his 12.5 points per game ranks second on the team. The senior is taking 22.1% of the team's shots when he's on the floor per KenPom (second-best on the team). Anim has rarely left the floor lately as he's played 36 minutes or more in five straight games.

Koby McEwen, Marquette ($5,900) - You're going to want most of your exposure to the Marquette/Butler game as the total is 22 points higher than the Purdue/Wisconsin game (115 game total). McEwen is averaging 9.6 points (3rd on the team), 4.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists (leads team), and 0.9 blocks/steals in 29.6 minutes. The junior guard's playing time has spiked as of late, as he's played 36 minutes or more in three of the last four games.

Forwards

Trevion Williams, Purdue ($6,400) - Williams owns a 29.2% usage rate and takes 27.6% of the team's shots when he's on the floor per KenPom. Both of those numbers lead the Boilermakers. His sky-high upside rivals only Markus Howard on this slate. T Will has a 42.7 FanDuel points game against Nebraska and 65 FanDuel points game against Michigan.

Matt Haarms, Purdue ($5,700) - Haarms has been battling injuries lately but it appears that he's put that in the rearview mirror. Haarms was re-inserted into the starting lineup in Purdue's 79-62 loss to the Maryland Terrapins on Tuesday. He managed to score 10 points, collect six rebounds, record an assist, and a block a shot in 28 minutes of action. The most encouraging part is that he played 28 minutes which was the most he's played in three games.

Bryce Nze, Butler ($6,000) - Nze exploded for 11 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and one steal in 38 minutes against Villanova on Tuesday. The matchup with Marquette is phenomenal. As noted above Marquette loves to push the tempo; they're also susceptible defensively, The Golden Eagles are 61st in Ken Pom's adjusted defense ratings. Nze is one of the more appealing forward options on this slate.

Brendan Bailey, Marquette ($5,700) - Bailey doesn't score a ton of points but his ability to contribute on both ends of the court makes him a viable DFS play. The sophomore is averaging 7.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 steals/blocks in 24.5 minutes. With Ed Morrow leaving the program, Bailey is locked into big minutes for the Golden Eagles. He's played at least 30 minutes in five out of the last seven games.

Sean McDermott, Butler ($5,300) - McDermott is Butler's second-leading scorer (11.0) and second-leading rebounder (5.7 per game). His 31.4 minutes per game is also second on the team. He looks like a solid target considering the Bulldogs are sporting an implied team total of 71.5 which is 3.2 points higher than their seasonal average.

Micah Potter, Wisconsin ($4,900) - This is a speculation play. I have feeling Potter may hit the 20-minute mark in playing time for just the third time in 10 games. Wisconsin will need Potter's size (6'10) on the court to matchup with Purdue's Matt Haarms (7'0). Potter is a monster per-minute FanDuel producer (1.15). If he pushes for 20 minutes, he should have no problem paying 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.