College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 2/2/21

College basketball season is in the midst of conference play, and we have a eight-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 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?

Relevant injury situations to monitor: Tennessee Volunteers guard Yves Pons is questionable after sustaining an ankle injury in the Volunteers' last game. Texas Longhorns forwards Brock Cunningham and Jericho Sims, along with guard Courtney Ramey, are expected to be available on Tuesday night. Iowa Hawkeyes guard CJ Fredrick is questionable after sitting out the Hawkeyes' last game. Indiana Hoosiers' Armaan Franklin is questionable, while guard Trey Galloway is out. Stanford Cardinal guards Daejon Davis and Bryce Wills, along with forward Ziaire Williams, are all questionable.

All stats come from KenPom unless otherwise noted.

Guards

Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois ($7,900) - Dosunmu is always a solid target because the ball is typically in his hands, and he plays a ton of minutes. The junior has a healthy 29.7% usage rate and 27.1% assist rate. He's taking 32.2% of the Illinois Fighting Illini's shot attempts when he's on the floor. While the matchup isn't ideal (Indiana is ranked 26th in defense nationally and plays slow), Dosunmu torched the Hoosiers in the two teams' first matchup this season. In that game, Ayo posted 30 points, 2 rebounds, and 5 assists in 36 minutes.

Jared Butler, Baylor ($7,700) - Butler is the floor general for the top-ranked Baylor Bears. The National Player of the Year candidate owns an impressive 27.1% usage rate and 31.5% assist rate. He's also one of the nation's top defenders; his 4.5% steal rate ranks 21st nationally. Butler has a solid floor and a massive ceiling due to his ability to contribute in every major statistical category. The junior has topped 30 FanDuel points in four consecutive games.

D'Mitrick Trice, Wisconsin ($6,400) - Trice gets his second shot at the Penn State Nittany Lions in as many games. Despite struggling against the Nittany Lions last Saturday, I'm expecting the senior to bounce back on Tuesday night. This will be a major pace-up game, and Penn State owns one of the Big Ten's worst defenses. Wisconsin is 324th in tempo, while Penn State is 113th. Moreover, the Nittany Lions have the third-worst defense in the conference and 79th ranked defense nationally. This will also be a home game, which should be favorable to Trice. Trice is connecting on 44.5% of his field goal attempts at home while only knocking down 41.7% of his field goal attempts on the road. Trice leads the Wisconsin Badgers in scoring (14.1 per game), assists (3.8 per game), and minutes (32.1 per game).

DJ Stewart Jr., Mississippi State ($5,000) - It appears that Stewart Jr., along with teammate Iverson Molinar (more on him below), are significantly under-salaried. The sophomore has a team-leading 26.9% usage rate, and he is also taking 30.5% of the Mississippi State Bulldogs shots when he's on the floor (also team-high). Additionally, he has a solid 15.5% assist rate. Stewart Jr. is logging nearly 35 minutes per game.

Iverson Molinar, Mississippi State ($4,500) - I'm assuming this is a salary error. As a result, Molinar will likely be the most popular player on this slate. The sophomore has a 26.4% usage rate and a 19.9% assist rate. Additionally, Molinar is attempting 29.9% of the team's shots when he's on the floor (89th nationally). In total, Molinar is averaging 17.6 points per game (tied with Stewart Jr. for team-high) and 32.4 minutes per game (second-highest on the team). Lock him in and enjoy the salary discount. There is a decent amount of value at guard on this slate. Michael O'Connell ($4,400) looks like a solid source of salary relief if Daejon Davis and Bryce Wills continue to miss time.

Other player to consider for salary relief ($5,000 or less): Michael O'Connell, Jaden Springer, Davonte Davis, Yves Pons (if he plays), Brad Davison, Clyde Trapp, Nick Honor, Al-Amir Dawes, and Anthony Leal (only if Armaan Franklin is out).

Forwards

Luka Garza, Iowa ($9,300) - Garza has put up monster numbers all season long. Now he catches a Michigan State Spartans team that has been bludgeoned by post players. Over the last three games, Michigan State allowed Purdue Boilermakers forward Trevion Williams to post 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists in 26 minutes. Then they were throttled by Rutgers Scarlet Knights center Myles Johnson for 13 points and 14 rebounds in 28 minutes. Lastly, they surrendered 20 points and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes to Ohio State Buckeyes forward EJ Liddell. Garza, who is averaging 26.4 points and 8.6 rebounds, should have a field day with Michigan State's soft interior defense.

Oscar da Silva, Stanford ($7,900) - da Silva continues to log heavy minutes for the Cardinal, as he's played at least 31 minutes every Pac-12 Conference game this season. He has posted five double-doubles over the last eight games. In conference play, da Silva owns a healthy 28.4% usage rate, 9.0% offensive rebounding rate, 18.5% defensive rebounding rate, and 19.2% assist rate (all rank within the top 20 of the Pac-12 Conference). Additionally, he's hoisting up 27.9% of the team's shots when he's on the floor. If frontcourt mate Ziaire Williams continues to miss games, da Silva's rates all figure to steadily increase.

Aamir Simms, Clemson ($5,900) - Simms' upside is worth targeting on Tuesday night. The matchup won't be easy, as the North Carolina Tar Heels have a strong interior defense. However, it'll be a major pace-up spot for the Clemson Tigers. Clemson is 316th in tempo nationally, while North Carolina is 81st. The senior has a 25.9% usage rate, 12.0% offensive rebounding rate, 14.2% defensive rebounding rate, and 23.5% assist rate, along with blocks and steals rates above 2.0%. He's averaging 27 FanDuel points over his last four games.

Garrison Brooks, North Carolina ($5,700) - Brooks hasn't been as productive as last season, but his salary is also significantly less than it was a season ago. However, the senior is still producing 0.80 FanDuel points per minute. At that production level, Brooks should pay off his salary in 28.5 minutes of action (assuming value is 4x of a player's salary). Brooks has played at least 32 minutes in four of the last five games. The lone exception was due to fouling out in 22 minutes last Saturday against North Carolina State.

Jacob Grandison, Illinois ($3,500) - Grandison has made two straight starts for the Fighting Illini. In his first start, he was limited to 15 minutes of action due to foul trouble. However, he exploded for 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 steals in 30 minutes against Iowa in his last outing. Grandison's salary hasn't adjusted to his new role. I have a feeling he'll be quite popular, but he's one of the best value plays on the slate. Tyler Wahl ($4,700) is a fine option if you need a player whose salary is between Grandison and Brooks. If you believe that Arkansas Razorbacks center Connor Vanover ($4,700) will continue to play 25-plus minutes, he'd be one of the best value plays on the entire slate (29 and 26 minutes over the last two games, respectively). I will note that Vanover's minutes are volatile because he's 7'1" and Arkansas isn't hesitant to go with a smaller lineup based on their opponent.

Other players to consider for salary relief ($5,000 or less): Connor Vanover, Aleem Ford, Jonathan Tchamwa Tchattchoua, Tyler Wahl, and Robert Allen (only if he's starting)

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.