College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 12/3/20

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 6:00 p.m. EST.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Guards

Remy Martin, Arizona State ($7,600) - The All-American candidate is in a fantasy friendly spot as the Arizona State Sun Devils square off with conference foe California. The Bears' defense ranks amongst the worst in the Pac-12 (92nd in KenPom's defensive rankings). The point guard may have to be more assertive on the offensive end on Thursday night with Alonzo Verge Jr.'s status in question. Through three games, Martin is averaging 15.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.0 steals in 31.3 minutes. He also has room for his minutes to increase as he averaged 33.8 minutes per game last season.

Matt Bradley, California ($6,800) - Bradley is an interesting play, because he has a team high 29.8% usage rate and rarely leaves the court. Through three games, he's averaging 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 blocks/steals in 31.3 minutes. The Bears will also get a major pace bump as they face off with Arizona State. California checks in at 318th in KenPom's tempo rankings while Arizona State is 12th.

Joshua Christopher, Arizona State ($6,500) - The five-star prospect landed Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors last week after averaging 18.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in games against Houston Baptist, Villanova, and Rhode Island. He's in a good spot to continue his strong start at the Sun Devils square off with a vulnerable Cal defense as noted above.

Wynston Tabbs, Boston College ($6,200) - Tabbs has been fantastic so far for the Boston College Eagles after missing all of last season with an injury. He owns a massive 33.8% usage rate along with a healthy 18.8% defensive rebounding rate, per KenPom. He's scored at least 26 FanDuel points over his last two games despite averaging 31.5 minutes in those games. There's a pretty good chance his minutes get expanded in a high-profile matchup with the Florida Gators.

Alfonso Plummer, Utah ($4,200) - Plummer closed last season with a bang. The Utah Utes' guard averaged 26.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.3 steals over the final three games last season. He should have a significant role this year and will likely be locked into major minutes to start the 2020 season. Jaelen House ($4,000) is also a solid cheap play if Alonzo Verge Jr. sits out.

Tre Mann, Florida ($3,800) - Mann posted an insane 49.5% usage rate in the Gators' season opener. In that game, the sophomore guard poured in 19 points, collected six rebounds, dished out four assists, and recorded five steals in 21 minutes. His price tag doesn't account for his performance in that one. His low salary provides a ton of cap relief.

Forwards

Timmy Allen, Utah ($7,400) - Last season Allen led all Utes with a 28.7% usage rate along with solid rebounding (18.1% defensive rebounding) and assists (19.1%) rates, per KenPom. He was recently named to the All Pac-12 preseason team. Look for Allen to make another leap this campaign and build on his previous season averages of 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.4 blocks/steals in 35.6 minutes.

Keyontae Johnson, Florida ($7,300) - Johnson is a beast on both ends of the court. The big man scored 16 points, collected three rebounds, assisted on two baskets, and recorded two steals in 28 minutes of action in Florida's season-opening win. He's in a great spot on Thursday as the Gators receive a major pace bump versus Boston College. BC is 84th in KenPom's tempo rankings while Florida is 252nd.

Isaiah Whaley, Connecticut ($6,900) - Whaley has been a stalwart in the Connecticut Huskies' lineup over the last two seasons. The senior is interesting, because he has the ability to rack up stats on both ends of the court. Whaley leads the Huskies in rebounding (8.5 per game) and blocked shots (3.0 per game). He's the third leading scorer with 11.0 points per game.

Collin Castleton, Florida ($3,400) - The junior big man transferred from Michigan after last season. In limited minutes at Michigan, Castleton showed the ability to rack up statistics across the board, which is great for DFS. He averaged 3.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.3 assists, and 0.6 blocks/steals in 7.9 minutes of action. Now with a starting job at Florida, he looks underpriced for his new role.

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.