NCAAB

College Basketball Single-Game Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 1/29/21 (Iowa at Illinois)

Luka Garza headlines a star-filled, single-game slate on Friday night. Who else should we consider targeting?

In a traditional FanDuel college basketball lineup, you have a $60,000 salary cap to roster eight players. In the single-game setup, the salary cap is the same, but the lineup requirements are different.

You select five players of any position, but not all lineup slots are the same. One of your players will be your MVP, and his FanDuel points are multiplied by two. You also select a STAR player, whose production is multiplied by 1.5, and a PRO, whose points are multiplied by 1.2. Two utility players round out the roster, and they don't receive a multiplier to their production.

This makes the five players you select important in more than one way, as you need to focus on slotting in the best plays in the multiplier slots rather than just nailing the best overall plays of the game.

All stats come from KenPom unless otherwise noted.

Player Breakdowns

At The Top

Luka Garza, Iowa ($13,500) - The Iowa Hawkeyes star is posting a massive 30.8% usage rate, and he is also taking 33.5% of the Hawkeyes shot attempts when he's on the floor. Additionally, he owns a 12.0% offensive rebounding, 17.9% defensive rebounding rate, and 6.1% block rate. He appears to be on his way to winning National Player of the Year this season. The senior has recorded at least 27.7 FanDuel points in every single game this season. I'm expecting Garza to be the most popular MVP selection on Friday night.

Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois ($12,000) - Dosunmu makes for an interesting alternative MVP selection. His 30.0% usage rate and 32.1% shot rate is very similar to Luka Garza. He also has an impressive 27.2% assist rate. The matchup with Iowa should be a fast-paced affair, as both the Illinois Fighting Illini and Iowa Hawkeyes rank within the top 80 in tempo. The junior should have plenty of opportunities to stuff the staff sheet against Iowa's susceptible defense. The Hawkeyes have the second-worst defense in the Big Ten and the 98th-ranked defense in the country.

Kofi Cockburn, Illinois ($11,500) - The Illini center has a healthy 25.7% usage rate. He's also an exceptional rebounder and an elite rim protector. Cockburn has a 5.5% block rate, while his offensive and defensive rebounding rates are north of 15.0%. The future pro has been unstoppable in Big Ten play this season. The big man has recorded eight double-doubles in nine conference games (including a double-double in six straight games). I'm expecting his MVP roster percentage to be less than both Dosunmu and Garza.

In The Middle

Joe Wieskamp, Iowa ($10,500) - Wieskamp could get lost in the shuffle. His salary is pretty close to Cockburn, and the masses will likely flock to Garza. With that said, Wieskamp has played exceptionally well as of late. Over the last three games, the senior is averaging 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 0.7 steals in 32.0 minutes. If Luka Garza struggles or gets into foul trouble (Illinois center Kofi Cockburn is drawing 7.1 fouls per 40 minutes), Wieskamp will have to carry the Iowa offense.

Jordan Bohannon, Iowa ($10,000) - Unsurprisingly, Bohannon's usage rate is rather low (16.7%) playing alongside Garza and Wieskamp. With that said, he's a capable rebounder and a solid distributor. The senior has an 11.7% defensive rebounding rate and a 24.6% assist rate. The matchup with Illinois could drive up field goal attempts for the Bohannon. Scoring around the rim will be difficult with Kofi Cockburn patrolling the paint for Illinois. Illinois ranks 26th nationally in defending the two-point shot (44.3%). However, they're not nearly as effective at defending the three-point line, allowing teams to connect on 33.6% percent from beyond the arc (175th nationally), which happens to be where Bohannon excels. The Iowa guard is connecting on 37.5% of his three-point attempts.

Keegan Murray, Iowa ($9,500) - The freshman can rack up fantasy points in a hurry due to his ability to contribute in every major statistical category. He's averaging an incredible 1.12 FanDuel points per minute this season. The lone drawback to Murray is the lack of playing time, as he is only averaging 14.8 minutes per game. However, Murray could be forced into extended action if CJ Fredrick misses Friday night's game (questionable with a leg injury). In that scenario, Murray would likely draw the start at power forward.

At The Bottom

Jack Nunge, Iowa ($8,500) - Nunge is a fantasy-point-per-minute monster, averaging 1.03 FanDuel points per minute. The issue with Nunge is that he doesn't receive a lot of playing time. Like Keegan Murray, Nunge could see a significant rise in playing time if CJ Fredrick is unable to play. Regardless, he may be forced into significant action because Iowa will need a big body to defend Illinois' 7'1" center, Kofi Cockburn. Nunge has the highest ceiling amongst the players priced below $10,000.

Jacob Grandison ($6,000) - Grandison was inserted into the Illini's starting lineup in their last game. While there's no guarantee that he starts against Iowa (if he goes back to the bench, Damonte Williams would likely rejoin the starting lineup), he's worth considering due to his low salary. Grandison has tallied 27 FanDuel points in 27 minutes over the last two games. There's a chance his playing time could creep up near 20 minutes if he can manage to stay out of foul trouble (he racked up seven fouls in those 27 minutes). We're going to need a lot of salary relief in order to roster at least two of Garza, Dosunmu, and Kockburn.

Adam Miller, Illinois ($6,000) - Miller is a safer play than Grandison, though it appears that Grandison may have the higher ceiling. Anyway, Miller has a starting role, and he's averaging 25.9 minutes per game. The freshman is not afraid to shoot either, as he's averaging 8.8 field goal attempts over the last four games. The matchup with Iowa should fit his skillset as a three-point specialist -- 69.4% of his field goal attempts have come from behind the three-point line. Iowa ranks 244th in defending the three-pointer.


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.