College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Monday 11/29/21

College basketball is back, and we have a three-game slate today.

March Madness is a ways 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.

Scoring differs from NBA in the blocks and steals categories; each is 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. All stats come from KenPom unless otherwise noted.

Which players should you be targeting and why?

Injuries to monitor: Andre Curbelo, Trent Frazier, and Jacob Grandison are all questionable after missing the Illinois Fighting Illini's previous game.

Guards

Andrew Nembhard, Gonzaga ($7,400) - There is major blowout concern here but the Gonzaga Bulldogs have a sky-high implied team total of 90 (leads the slate). Nembhard enters Monday night having eviscerated two straight top five opponents (UCLA Bruins and Duke Blue Devils) last week. Nembhard posted 34.1 FanDuel points against Duke and 42 FanDuel points against UCLA. Nembhard should be able to do whatever he wants against Tarleton State. Tarleton State ranks 151st in defensive efficiency. He will be very popular.

Reece Beekman, Virginia ($6,600) - Beekman leads the Virginia Cavaliers in assist rate (29.1%) and steal rate (5.7%). He is also posting an impressive 3.5% block rate. The sophomore has struggled shooting the ball this season as he's only converting on 32.8% of his field goal attempts. That is down significantly from his freshman season (38.2%). If he has a hot shooting night, Beekman could post a monster box score. Perhaps that happens against the Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa loves to push the pace and they aren't particularly concerned with playing defense. Iowa ranks 64th in defensive efficiency. Meanwhile, they are 25th in adjusted tempo while Virginia ranks 358th. This is a great spot to target Beekman and a few of his teammates.

Armaan Franklin, Virginia ($5,600) - Franklin is averaging 10.1 field goal attempts per game. Additionally, he is an outstanding defender as he has a steal rate of 3.6% and a block rate of 2.0%. Consequently, the junior's versatility provides him with a solid floor. I think his playing time could spike as the matchup with Iowa should be competitive. Virginia has played seven games this season. In games that have been decided by 10 points or less, Franklin has averaged 33.0 minutes per game (season average is 28.7 minutes per game).

Andre Curbelo, Illinois ($5,500) - As noted above, Curbelo is questionable for the Fighting Illini's matchup with Notre Dame. If he plays, he is one of the best values plays on the slate. Curbelo owns an impressive 35.6% usage rate. He also has a 14.8% defensive rebounding rate and an eye-opening 50.2% assist rate. While those rates will undoubtedly regress as the season progresses, it's clear that Curbelo possesses a significant ceiling. He is in a good spot as Notre Dame ranks 80th in defensive efficiency.

Prentiss Hubb, Notre Dame ($5,400) - Hubb owns an ugly 22.1% effective field goal percentage. However, his usage rate is strong (24.8%) and he's a willing distributor (22.7% assist rate). While the matchup with Illinois isn't ideal, Hubb is a better player than what he's shown this season. Hubb posted an effective field goal percentage of 48.2% last season. Take advantage of his salary discount now because he was routinely salaried in the mid $6,000's last season.

Jordan Bohannon, Iowa ($4,500) - The Iowa Hawkeyes have not played a competitive game yet this season. That should change on Monday night with a matchup with the Virginia Cavaliers. Consequently, the Hawkeyes starters should see their playing time increase significantly. Bohannon averaged 10.6 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.1 rebounds last season. He is a great source of salary relief on this slate. I also like backcourt mate Joe Toussaint ($4,200) as a pivot of the chalkier Bohannon. Toussaint's rates are impressive if he gets extended playing time. However, his minutes rarely crept into the lower 20's last season.

Forwards

Kofi Cockburn, Illinois ($9,000) - King Kofi has always been a great per FanDuel Fantasy point per minute producer. However, he only averaged 27.0 minutes per game a season ago. Interestingly enough it appears that Illinois is letting their star center play as many minutes as possible. Cockburn played 38 in the Fighting Illini's previous game. With Illinois potentially thin on Monday night, I'm expecting Kofi to play as much as possible. Cockburn is averaging 26.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 2.0 blocks/steals through three games. He is my favorite high-end salary option on this slate.

Drew Timme, Gonzaga ($8,200) - Timme and his frontcourt mate Chet Holmgren ($8,300) are both viable high-end investments. Both players are averaging over 1.1 FanDuel points per minute. However, Timme is getting a little more run than Holmgren (26.1 minutes per game to 25.4 minutes per game, respectively). Timme (and Holmgren) should feast on Tarleton State's weak interior defense. The Texans are allowing an effective field goal percentage of 56.4% (332nd) from inside the three-point line.

Paul Atkinson, Notre Dame ($6,700) - Notre Dame is a fun team to target in DFS due to their tight rotation. Seven players are averaging at least 19.0 minutes per game this season. Atkinson is one of the safer plays due to his ability to contribute on both ends of the court. The senior has cleared 24 FanDuel points in all five games. His size will be needed against Illinois center Kofi Cockburn. I also like Virginia's Jayden Gardner ($6,500) in a "balanced line-up" build.

Montre Gipson, Tarleton State ($6,000) - Gipson has played 79 out of a possible 80 minutes over the last two games for the Texans. He leads Tarleton State with a 23.6% usage rate and a 26.5% shot rate (percentage of the team's shot attempts when the player is on the floor). While the matchup with Gonzaga is difficult, Tarleton State is in a massive pace-up spot. Gonzaga is 37th in adjusted tempo while the Texans are 353rd.

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.