College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 2/23/21

College basketball season is in the midst of conference play, and we have an eight-game slate today.

March Madness is a little more than a month away, 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 situation to monitor: Virginia Tech Hokies guards Jalen Cone (injury) and Tyrece Radford (suspension) are both questionable. Michigan State Spartans guard Foster Loyer is out.

All stats come from KenPom unless otherwise noted.

Guards

Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois ($9,000) - The Illinois Fighting Illini guard has been nearly unstoppable as B1G Ten conference play nears the conclusion. He's recorded two triple-doubles over the last four games. He's averaging an impressive 41.2 FanDuel points in that time span. Up next is a good spot as the Illini travel to Michigan State. The Spartans are not a team to fear this season as they check in with the nation's 50th-ranked defense. Shareef Cooper ($8,700) is also an excellent option; he'll likely be less popular than Dosunmu. Julian Champagne ($8,100) may fly under the radar due to the matchup with Villanova. However, he's a fine play tournament play.

James Bouknight, Connecticut ($7,100) - All systems appear to be a go with the Connecticut Huskies star guard. He enters Tuesday night with two games under his belt after a lengthy injury absence. Bouknight re-entered the starting lineup in the Huskies' last outing and logged 36 minutes (recorded 33.5 FanDuel points). The sophomore has a monster 31.7% usage rate and 32.1% shot rate (percentage of the team's shots by the player when the player is on the floor). The matchup with Georgetown is a phenomenal spot. The Hoyas loves to push the tempo and aren't particularly concerned with playing defense. They are ranked 86th in defense nationally while they check in at 94th in tempo (Connecticut is 319th in tempo).

Justin Moore, Villanova ($6,300) - Moore is an interesting play because he plays a ton of minutes and does a little of everything. The sophomore has a 21.6% usage rate, 22.6% shot rate, 15.6% defensive rebounding rate, and 17.2% assist rate. Further enhancing his appeal is a dream matchup against the fast-paced and defensive-deficient St. John's (NY) Red Storm. The Red Storm are 13th in tempo nationally (Villanova is 331st) and 129th in defense. Prentiss Hubb ($6,300) is also a good option with the same exact salary as Moore. Hubb will likely be far less popular.

Andrew Jones, Texas ($6,000) - Jones has an impressive 25.6% usage rate and 29.6% shot rate. The Texas Longhorns guard is also an effective rebounder (13.2% defensive rebounding rate) and ball distributor (14.5% assist rate). Consequently, he has a solid floor and a decent ceiling. Jones has tallied at least 21.1 FanDuel points in 14 consecutive games. Dru Smith ($6,100) will likely be more popular than Jones and carries a similar salary. He's also a fine option.

Tyree Appleby, Florida ($5,000) - Appleby appears to be the one Florida Gators guard that is locked into heavy minutes. He's averaging .71 FanDuel points per minute. At that production level, he should pay off his salary in 28.2 minutes (assuming value is 4x of a player's salary). Appleby is averaging 32 minutes per game over the last five games. The lone exception was 22 foul-plagued minutes in the Gators' last outing. St. John's (NY) guard Rasheem Dunn ($4,800) is also a fine source of salary relief.

Hunter Cattoor, Virginia Tech ($4,400) - The Hokies will be a team to pay attention to pre-lock. They are coming off an extended Covid-19 absence. It's unclear which players are available for Tuesday night. It's also unclear if Tyrece Radford ($3,000) will be reinstated from suspension. If he's back, he's a near-lock at his current salary. Assuming Radford is out, Cattoor makes for an excellent source of salary relief. Cattoor is averaging .69 FanDuel points per minute. At that production level, he should pay off his salary in 25.5 minutes of action (assuming value is 4x of player's salary). Cattoor is averaging 28.0 minutes per game over the last six games despite coming off the bench. Joshua Langford ($4,400) is a fine pivot.

Other players to consider for salary relief ($5,000 or less): Christian Braun, Samuel Williamson, Nahiem Alleyne (better if Tyrece Radford or Jalen Cone is out), Trent Frazier, Rasheem Dunn, Joshua Langford, Rocket Watts, Wabissa Bede, and Joe Bamisile (only if Tyrece Radford and Jalen Cone are out).

Forwards

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova ($7,900) - Robinson-Earl leads the Wildcats with 23.0% usage rate and 24.6% shot rate. He's incredibly efficient with the ball too as he has an effective field goal percentage of 54.8%. Moreover, the sophomore is an excellent rebounder (7.8% offensive rebounding rate and a 19.7% defensive rebounding rate) and a willing passer (11.3% assist rate). As mentioned above, the matchup with St. John's (NY) is a fantasy-friendly spot.

Keve Aluma, Virginia Tech ($7,000) - Aluma has simply been incredible with Tyrece Radford suspended. In four games sans Radford, Aluma is averaging 22.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.2 blocks/steals in 35.5 minutes (one game went to overtime). Even if Radford returns, look for the Hokies to run their offense through Aluma. He's one of the best plays on the slate when considering salary. Aaron Henry ($7,100) and David McCormack ($6,900) are both good tournament options in Aluma's salary range. They'll likely be far less popular than Aluma. Frontcourt mate Justyn Mutts ($5,100) is also a great option albeit at a significantly lower salary.

Jermaine Samuels, Villanova ($6,100) - Outside of usage rate and shot rate (19.6% usage rate and 17.1% shot rate), Samuels' offensive efficiency, rebounding, assist, blocks, and steals rates are nearly identical to his teammate Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Except Samuels' salary is significantly lower than Robinson-Earl's. I will also note that Samuels has a better offensive rating than Robinson-Earl (127.2 to 116.1). Additionally, the senior plays the fourth-most minutes amongst the Wildcats (averaging 28.2 minutes per game). Colin Castleton ($6,300) is a fine alternative with a big ceiling (averaging 1.07 FanDuel points per minute).

Jalen Wilson, Kansas ($5,600) - Despite the rather unappealing matchup with Texas Longhorns (Texas is 33rd in defense nationally), Wilson is under-salaried. From a rates perspective, it's hard to find anyone in his salary range that compares. The freshman has a 23.4% usage rate, 8.8% offensive rebounding rate, 21.9% defensive rebounding rate, and a 14.8% assist rate. He also rarely leaves the court as he's averaging 34.5 minutes per game over the last six games. Malik Williams ($3,900) is an intriguing forward play at his current salary (averaged 1.0 FanDuel points per minute last season). He made his season debut in the Louisville Cardinals' last outing and logged 17 minutes off the bench. I'd assume he's a good bet to see a minutes increase in his second game of the season.

Other players to consider for salary relief ($5,000 or less): JT Thor, Jericho Sims, Anthony Duruji, Adama Sanogo, and Malik Williams.

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.