NCAAB

College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 11/27/20

Matt Hiatt Nov 27th, 2020
Marcus Garrett and the Kansas Jayhawks are in a great spot on Friday. Who else should we consider targeting?

College basketball season is finally here, and we have a four-game slate today.

March Madness is a ways off at this point, 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 slate, which locks at 2:00 p.m. EST.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Guards

Ryan Daly, Saint Joseph's ($8,200) - Daly is easily the Saint Joseph's Hawks' best player. The guard led the Hawks in points (20.6 per game), rebounds (6.8), assists (4.3), and steals (1.2). The senior scored 18 points in the season opener on an impressive 20 shot attempts. Daly also recorded seven rebounds and seven assists. Throw in a game against Kansas, which should feature a ton of possessions, and Daly looks like a great high-salaried option. Both Kansas and Saint Joseph's rank within KenPom's top 80 in tempo.

Marcus Garrett, Kansas ($7,000) - The senior led all Jayhawks with 22 points in their season opening loss to Gonzaga Bulldogs. Garrett also logged a team high 37 minutes, which was 6 more than any other player. Up next is a pace-up spot against the defensive-deficient Saint Joseph's Hawks. The Hawks rank 32nd in KenPom's tempo rankings while they check at 234th in KenPom's defensive rankings. Chris Smith ($6,700) is also worth consideration as the UCLA Bruins could potentially be short-handed for the second consecutive game.

Ochai Agbaji, Kansas ($6,600) - Agbaji received head coach Bill Self's message to be "ultra-aggressive" on the offensive end this season by scoring 17 points in the Jayhawks' season opener. The junior is already a defensive standout, so if he starts contributing on the offensive end consistently, he'll become one of the nation's top overall college basketball players. Up next is a matchup with Saint Joseph's. The Hawks allowed 96 points to Auburn in their season opener.

David Johnson, Louisville ($6,000) - Pegged as a breakout star prior to this season, David Johnson did not disappoint in Louisville's season opener. The sophomore posted 4 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists in 23 minutes of action as Louisville coasted to a 79-44 win over Evansville. Johnson's minutes should rise on Friday as the game against the Seton Hall Pirates should be much more competitive.

Marcus Sasser ($5,200) - Sasser is looking to take a big leap after starting the final 15 games in 2019 for the Houston Cougars. In the season opener, the sophomore connected on seven out of nine field goal attempts. Sasser poured in 25 points, grabbed a rebounded, and dished out an assist. He's in a good spot on Friday as the Cougars face off with Boise State's vulnerable defense. The Broncos check in at 132nd in KenPom's defensive rankings.

Forwards

Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall ($7,300) - Prior to the season, Mamu was an All Big East preseason first-team pick. The big man posted a 23% usage rate with star Myles Powell around last season (Powell was 7th in the country with a 38% usage rate, per KenPom). Now that Powell has graduated, he should easily be the top option for the Seton Hall Pirates on the offensive end. The senior averaged 11.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.1 blocks/steals in 26.1 minutes last season. All of those numbers figure to rise in the 20-21 season as the Pirates lost three of their top five players in minutes played and points scored from last season.

Kessler Edwards, Pepperdine ($7,100) - Edwards is appealing because of his ability to contribute on both ends of the court. Last season, the forward led the Pepperdine Waves in rebounds (7.5 per game) and blocks (1.9 per game). He also averaged 13.8 points per game which ranked third amongst the Waves. In the season opener, Edwards led the team with 20 points. He also recorded seven rebounds and dished out two assists.

Cody Riley, UCLA ($6,200) - Riley could be forced into monster minutes with Jalen Hill listed as day-to-day. In the Bruins season opener, Riley scored 14 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and assisted on a basket in 31 minutes of action. The matchup on Friday with Pepperdine is significantly easier than UCLA's season opening opponent San Diego State. Pepperdine checks in at 139th in KenPom's defensive rankings while SDSU is 34th.

Taylor Funk, Saint Joseph's ($6,100) - I'm not enamored with the middle-to-low-salaried forward options on Friday, so I'd prefer to target the $6,000 plus price range. Funk missed 25 games a season ago due to an injury. The big man averaged 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 blocks/steals in seven games prior to the injury. The matchup with Kansas isn't pretty as the Jayhawks are sixth in KenPom's defensive rankings. With that said, Funk needs to be considered after dropping 28 points and grabbing seven rebounds over 36 minutes against Auburn in Saint Joseph's season opener.

Jalen Wilson, Kansas ($3,000) - The freshman drew a starting assignment in the Jayhawks season opening loss to Gonzaga. His 11 shot attempts were tied for the team high with Ochai Agbaji. Wilson was also active in other areas of the game as he recorded four rebounds and two assists. Throw in a pace up game against Saint Joseph's (as mentioned above), and Wilson's minimum salary is very intriguing.

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.