NCAAB

College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 12/30/20

Matt Hiatt Dec 30th, 2020
Connecticut's James Bouknight is a player worth targeting on tonight's six-game slate.

College basketball season is finally here, and we have a six-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 7:00 p.m. EST.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Guards

James Bouknight, Connecticut ($7,800) - The Connecticut Huskies' guard owns an eye-popping 30.3% usage rate, 120.6 offensive rating, and he's taking 31.4% of the team's shots when he's on the floor, per KenPom. He'll play nearly the entire game and he's in a fantasy-friendly spot as the Huskies take on the DePaul Blue Demons. DePaul loves to push the tempo and they aren't particularly interested in playing defense. The Blue Demons are 35th in KenPom's tempo rankings and 84th in KenPom's defensive rankings.

Moses Moody, Arkansas ($6,900) - Moody is an intriguing target since he can dent the box score in a variety of ways. The freshman has an impressive 135.5 offensive rating (per KenPom), 60.1% effective field goal percentage, is a willing rebounder, and is active on the defensive end of the court. He leads the Arkansas Razorbacks in scoring (16.9 per game) and minutes played (29.4 per game). He's also averaging 2.1 blocks/steals per game.

Armaan Franklin, Indiana ($6,300) - Franklin has been one of the best players in the B1G Ten over the last two weeks. In his last four games, Franklin is averaging 19.5 points, 3.25 rebounds, 2.25 assists, and 2.75 blocks/steals in 31.8 minutes. Throw in a matchup with a vulnerable Penn State Nittany Lions team and his stellar play figures to continue for a fifth straight game. Penn State is 71st in KenPom's defensive rankings.

Caleb Love, North Carolina ($6,200) - Love has been a bit of a disappointment this season as he was one of the nation's top recruits in the 2020 class. He's connecting on a putrid 28.7% from the field. On the plus side, the freshman owns a 25.8% usage rate and he's taking 27.4% of the North Carolina Tar Heels shots when he's on the floor, per KenPom (both lead the team). The matchup with Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is a fantastic spot for the struggling shooter. The Yellow Jackets rank 291st in three-point field goal percentage allowed and 144th in two-point field goal percentage allowed, per KenPom.

Aljami Durham, Indiana ($5,000) - The Indiana Hoosiers' point guard is a boom or bust type player depending on whether his jumper is falling. He's the Hoosiers' fourth-leading scorer (8.8 per game), fourth-leading rebounder (4.1 per game), and leading assist man (3.1 per game). There is reason for optimism, though, as his shooting percentage figures to rebound as the season progresses. Durham is currently connecting on 37.9% of his field goal attempts which is down significantly from last season (44.1% a season ago). A matchup with Penn State could be the cure as the Nittany Lions are 277th in two-point field goal percentage allowed, per KenPom.

Forwards

Sandro Mamukelashvili, Seton Hall ($7,700) - I like Mamo to bounce back on Wednesday night after struggling in a win over Georgetown last weekend. The Seton Hall Pirates center will play as many minutes as he can handle. That's enticing since Mamo has a 27.5% usage rate and he takes 29.4% of the Pirates shots when he's on the floor, per KenPom (both team highs). He's also a willing passer and owns a 21.4% assist rate, which ranks second amongst the Pirates. The matchup with Xavier Musketeers is pretty good too. The Musketeers are 67th in KenPom's defensive rankings. Traycie Jackson-Davis ($8,200) is also a great play despite the high salary.

Armando Bacot, North Carolina ($6,800) - Bacot leads the Tar Heels with a 124.0 offensive rating, per KenPom. The sophomore is also a solid rebounder (both his offensive and defensive rebounding rates are 15-plus percent, per KenPom) and an elite shot-blocker (5.2%, per KenPom). Bacot stands out as one of the better forward plays as he faces off with a below-average Georgia Tech defense (as mentioned above).

Garrison Brooks, North Carolina ($6,400) - Brooks consistently had salaries in the high $7,000's to low $8,000's last season. However, his salary has taken a hit this season due to his performance this season. That said, there's reason to believe that Brooks will regain his form from last season. The senior is a career 54.6% shooter from the field -- he's only connecting on 47.4% of his field-goal attempts this season. His minutes also figure to increase as the Tar Heels' big man has been limited to 27.5 minutes over the last two games due to foul trouble. As noted above, the matchup with Georgia Tech should provide the Tar Heels plenty of open looks on Wednesday night.

John Fulkerson, Tennessee ($5,600) - Fulkerson is an efficient scorer and an excellent rebounder. The Tennessee Volunteers forward is averaging .91 FanDuel points per minute. At that production level, he should pay off his salary in 24.6 minutes of action. Fulkerson has logged 28 minutes in each of the last two games. Additionally, he averaged 30.1 minutes per game a season ago.

Ike Obiagu ($4,200) - Obiagu is not an offensive threat but he is one of the better value plays due to his ability to rack up the defensive statistics. Obiagu's 14.5% block rate ranks sixth nationally, per KenPom. He's also averaging 5.1 rebounds per game, which ranks third amongst the Pirates. His minutes have also been extended recently as he's averaged 29.5 minutes per game over the last two games (up significantly from his season average of 22.6 minutes). Josh Carlton ($4,200) is also a viable source of salary relief if he draws the start for Connecticut.

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.