College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 12/18/20

College basketball season is finally here, and we have a three-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 5:00 p.m. EST.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Guards

Miles McBride, West Virginia ($7,500) - McBride is productive on both ends of the court. He leads the West Virginia Mountaineers in minutes (32.4 per game), scoring (14.6 per game), assists (4.6 per game), and steals (1.7 per game). He's averaging an impressive 33.5 FanDuel points per game over his last three. He's a fantastic option considering West Virginia has a slate-high 81-point implied team total.

Isaac Bonton, Washington State ($7,300) - Bonton plays a ton of minutes and isn't afraid to shoot the ball. The senior is taking an eye-popping 37.8% of the Washington State Cougars shot attempts when he's on the floor, per KenPom (ranks ninth in the country). Throw in a matchup with the defensive optional Montana State Bobcats, and Bonton looks like a worthy spend on Friday night. The Bobcats are 198th in KenPom's defensive rankings.

Noah Williams, Washington State ($6,700) - Like his backcourt mate, Isaac Bonton, Williams rarely leaves the court. The sophomore is posting a 103.0 offensive rating, which is noticeably higher than Bonton's 80.0 offensive rating, per KenPom. While Bonton has a much higher shot percentage, Williams is the more efficient player (57.5% effective field goal percentage). Both guards have similar assist rates. As noted above, this is a great spot for Washington State.

Jordan Schakel, San Diego State ($5,900) - Schakel is averaging 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 steals over the last three games for the San Diego State Aztecs. The senior logs the most minutes amongst the Aztecs (28.2 minutes per game), and he's posting a team-best 123.5 offensive rating, per KenPom. Throw in a pace-up game with the Brigham Young Cougars, and Schakel looks like a great choice. The Cougars are 117th in KenPom's tempo rankings while the Aztecs are 323rd.

Trey Pulliam, San Diego State ($4,600) - On a short slate, we're going to have to take some chances somewhere. Pulliam looks like one of the better cheap salary players, and he's the Aztecs starting point guard. He doesn't shoot often (only taking 14.9% of the team's shots when he's on the floor), but he does own a 21.1% assist rate, per KenPom. Pulliam also logged 28 and 29 minutes over the last two games after playing 22 minutes or fewer in the prior two games.

Forwards

Derek Culver, West Virginia ($8,200) - Culver is the catalyst for the eighth-ranked Mountaineers. The junior has been dominant on both ends of the court this season. He is averaging 13.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.1 blocks/steals in 27.3 minutes. Iowa State's leaky defense (125th in KenPom's defensive rankings) does not figure to slow down the National Player of the Year candidate. Culver is currently ranked seventh in KenPom's Player of the Year standings.

Matt Mitchell, San Diego State ($6,500) - Mitchell leads the Aztecs with a 24.5% shot rate when he's on the court, per KenPom. He's also posting a team-high 3.6% steal rate. On a three-game slate, he's one of the safest options as he's recorded at least 19 FanDuel points in every game this season.

Nathan Mensah, San Diego State ($6,000) - Mensah can stuff the staff sheet in limited minutes due to his ability to contribute in every major statistical category. The San Diego big man logged a season-high 27 minutes and went off for 17 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks, and 1 steal in the Aztecs' win over Arizona State last week. It appears that San Diego State may be giving their center more run. He's played at least 21 minutes in two straight games after logging 19 minutes or fewer in the team's first three games.

Oscar Tshiebwe, West Virginia ($5,200) - Tshiebwe is almost unavoidable on a short slate at his current salary. The former McDonald's All America has monster upside as he's averaging 0.98 FanDuel points per minute. However, the sophomore often finds himself on the bench due to foul trouble. Fortunately, there's a good chance he avoids foul trouble against Iowa State because none of the Iowa State starters are drawing more than 3.2 fouls per 40 minutes, per KenPom.

Andrej Jakimovski, Washington State ($3,400) - The freshman has a starting spot and should see plenty of run with Jaz Kunc, DJ Rodman, and Tony Miller all likely to miss Friday's night game. When he's on the floor, Jakimovski is taking 22.0% of the Cougars' shots. He's scored in double figures while playing 24-plus minutes in each of the last two games. Jakimovski is a solid source of salary relief.

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.