College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 3/9/21

College basketball's conference tournament week is here, and we have a three-game slate today.

March Madness is only a week 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 2:00 p.m. EST.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Relevant injury situation to monitor: Boston College Eagles forward Steffon Mitchell has missed two straight games and should be considered questionable.

All stats come from KenPom unless otherwise noted.

Guards

Justin Champagnie, Pittsburgh ($9,000) - Champagnie will be very popular on a three-game slate filled with a handful of viable salary relief options. Considering that the Pittsburgh Panthers will be short-handed on Wednesday (their second and third leading scorers have left the program), he'll likely be tasked with playing as minutes as possible. Champagnie owns a 24.2% usage rate and a 27.4% shot rate (percentage of the team's shots by the player when the player is on the floor). He is a monster on the glass too as he has a 10.4% offensive rebounding rate and a 26.2% defensive rebounding rate. If that's not impressive enough, he also has a 10.7% assist rate and 4.0% block rate.

Kameron McGusty, Miami ($6,800) - Due to attrition, McGusty is playing as many minutes as he can handle. The senior has been on the floor for 36-plus minutes in each of the last nine games. Over his last nine games, the Miami (FL) Hurricanes guard is averaging 11.7 field goal attempts. I expect he'll be popular after exploding for 44.7 FanDuel points in the regular-season finale. The matchup with Pittsburgh is a good spot for Miami (FL) as Pittsburgh struggles on the defensive end of the court. The Panthers check in with the nation's 103rd-ranked defense. McGusty's backcourt mate Isaiah Wong ($7,300) makes for an interesting tournament play. His playing time took a significant hit in the regular-season finale (logged 27 minutes after averaging 35.1 minutes per game during the regular season). Perhaps that was by design to ensure his ankle is fully recovered for the first round of the ACC tournament. If that is the case, a fully healthy Wong has slate-breaking potential.

Ian DuBose, Wake Forest ($5,800) - There is some risk to DuBose as his playing time resembles a roller coaster. Over the last four games (despite starting) he's logged (most recent last): 21, 16, 21, and 27 minutes, respectively. However, I'd expect him to receive plenty of run now that the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are playing postseason basketball. The senior leads the Demon Deacons with a 25.6% usage rate. He's also posting an incredible 20.5% defensive rebounding rate, 24.4% assist rate, and 3.7% steal rate (all of those lead Wake Forest). He's averaging .91 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 a player's salary).

Jay Heath, Boston College ($5,700) - All six of the teams playing on Wednesday in the ACC tournament have lost at least one key player over the season. The Eagles lost their usage rate leader in Wynston Tabbs to the transfer portal. Also, starting forward Steffon Mitchell may be unavailable after missing the last two games (as mentioned above). That brings me to Heath. The sophomore will likely play nearly the entire game. He leads the Eagles with a 26.7% shot rate (averaging 13.9 field goal attempts per game this season). The matchup with the Duke Blue Devils could be advantageous to Heath. Heath has hoisted up an astounding 24 three-point field goal attempts over the last two games. He's connecting on 35.0% of his long-range attempts this season. Guess what Duke doesn't defend? The three-point line. The Blue Devils are allowing opposing players to connect on 37.2% of their deep balls, which ranks 316th nationally (for some perspective, the Division I average is 33.8%).

Nike Sibande, Pittsburgh ($4,400) - Sibande has been thrusted into a large role due to Xavier Johnson and Audiese Toney leaving the program. Over the last four games, the senior is averaging 12.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 0.8 blocks/steals in 34.5 minutes. His salary has not adjusted to his increased role. The matchup with Miami is the icing on the cake. The Hurricanes have the ACC's third-worst defense (114th nationally). DeMarr Langford Jr. ($3,800) is another guard that is heavily under-salaried and worth consideration. He's logged 30-plus minutes in six out of the last seven games. I also like Daivien Williamson ($4,700) as a source of salary relief even though his salary is slightly higher than both Sibande and Langford Jr. He's a good bet to log 35-plus minutes on Wednesday.

Other players to consider for salary relief ($5,000 or less): Jordan Goldwire, Jeremy Roach (better if he starts), Daivien Williamson, Trey Wertz, Ithiel Horton, and DeMarr Langford Jr.

Forwards

Matthew Hurt, Duke ($8,300) - The Blue Devils will need to make a deep run in the ACC tournament if they plan on participating in next week's NCAA tournament. That means they'll need a monster tournament from their sophomore forward, Matthew Hurt. Game log watchers might be scared off by Hurt as his playing time has come down significantly in each of the Blue Devils' last two games. However, that was a result of foul trouble. Boston College doesn't have a player on their roster that can challenge Hurt and get him into foul trouble. He won't be dealing with the likes of Georgia Tech's Moses Wright and North Carolina's Garrison Brooks and Armando Bacot. Furthermore, Hurt is posting an eye-popping 128.8 offensive rating. He leads the Blue Devils with a 25.1% shot rate. The matchup with Boston College is fantasy-friendly, to say the least. The Eagles love to push the tempo (48th in the country) and are awful defensively (ranked last in the ACC and 181st nationally).

Anthony Walker, Miami ($6,300) - Walker has played exceptionally well for the injury-cursed Hurricanes. Over the last four games, the sophomore is averaging 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds,1.8 assists, and 2.3 blocks/steals in 35.5 minutes (equates to an average of 28.6 FanDuel points). He makes for a fine play considering the lack of top-end plays at the forward spot on Wednesday.

Wendell Moore Jr., Duke ($5,000) - Moore Jr. is one of the best values on the slate due to his ability to contribute in every major statistical category. The former five-star prospect is sporting a 20.8% usage rate, 15.2% defensive rebounding rate, 16.3% assist rate, and 2.4% steal rate. He's also playing a ton of minutes as he's logged 29-plus minutes in five straight games. As noted above, this is a dream spot for Duke.

Mark Williams, Duke ($5,000) - The freshman center has picked up the slack for the departed Jalen Johnson. The seven-footer is averaging an incredible 1.06 FanDuel points per minute (second-best on the slate behind Justin Champagnie's 1.07). At that production level, he should pay off his salary in 18.9 minutes of action (assuming value is 4x of a player's salary). Williams has tallied at least 25 minutes in four straight contests.

Nysir Brooks, Miami ($4,400) - As noted above, Miami has dealt with injuries all season long. Consequently, the Hurricanes are relying heavily on their starters to play monster minutes. Brooks is the starting center and has logged at least 32 minutes in five straight games. The senior is basically invisible on the offensive end of the court (15.7% usage rate) but his salary is just too low for the amount of minutes he is expected to play. The seven-footer is a solid rebounder (offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding rates are both above 10%) and rim protector (4.1% block rate). Brooks is my favorite source of salary relief amongst the forwards on Wednesday.

Other players to consider for salary relief ($5,000 or less): Isaiah Mucious, Frederick Scott (better if Steffon Mitchell is out), Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, and Ismael Massoud.

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.