College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 2/11/21

College basketball season is in the midst of conference play, and we have a three-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 situations to monitor: Stanford Cardinal forward Ziaire Williams and guard Daejon Davis are both questionable. Oregon Ducks guards Chris Duarte and Eric Williams Jr. are both questionable.

All stats come from KenPom unless otherwise noted.

Guards

McKinley Wright IV, Colorado ($7,500) - Wright's playing time has been inconsistent over the last three weeks. Consequently, he may fly under the radar and makes for an interesting tournament play. The senior leads the Colorado Buffaloes with a 24.6% usage rate and a 35.2% assist rate (29th nationally). He's been efficient as a scorer as he has an effective field goal percentage of 54.0. If he receives 35-plus minutes (two out of the last four games) instead of the 25 minutes he's played in two out of the last three games, he'd have a great chance to smash his current salary.

LJ Figueroa, Oregon ($6,600) - Figueroa is one of several intriguing Oregon Ducks. The Ducks are potentially short-handed and face off with Arizona State on Thursday night. The Sun Devils love to push the tempo and are neglectful on the defensive end of the court (Arizona State is 16th in tempo nationally and 106th defensively). Figueroa is the Ducks leading rebounder with 7.1 rebounds per game and fifth-leading scorer (10.0 points per game). Additionally, his 18.4% usage rate figures to rise if Eric Williams Jr. and Chris Duarte are out (both players have a usage rate north of 20%).

Will Richardson, Oregon ($5,700) - Richardson's return to the Oregon lineup is badly needed as the Ducks may be shorthanded (as mentioned above). Richardson has played two games this season after returning from a finger injury. Through those two contests, Richardson is averaging 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.0 steal in 35.5 minutes. He'll likely play nearly the entire game against the fast-paced Sun Devils on Thursday night.

Ochai Agbaji, Kansas ($5,600) - Agbaji is playing a ton of minutes, has an offensive rating of 110.7 (second amongst all Kansas Jayhawks), and is one of the best defenders in the Big 12 conference. He's averaging .70 FanDuel points per minute. At that production level, he should pay off his salary in 32 minutes of action (assuming value is 4x of a player's salary). Agbaji has logged 39 minutes in each of the last two games and has played 32-plus minutes in five out of the last six games. Backcourt mate Marcus Garrett ($5,900) is also a solid option.

Christian Braun, Kansas ($5,000) - Braun has been fabulous for the Jayhawks as of late. Luckily, his salary has barely moved. Anyway, he's averaging 14.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.3 steals in 32.7 minutes over the last three games (29.9 FanDuel points). With Kansas seemingly tightening their rotation as the postseason nears, Braun makes for a fantastic source of salary relief.

Other players to consider for salary relief ($5,000 or less): Jalen Coleman-Lands, D'Shawn Schwartz, and Amauri Hardy (better if Chris Duarte is out).

Forwards

Oscar da Silva, Stanford ($7,800) - da Silva's floor is pretty solid and his ceiling is sky-high due to his ability to affect the game on both ends of the court. The senior has a 27.3% usage rate, 8.0% offensive rebounding rate, 17.2% defensive rebounding rate, 18.4% assist rate, and a 3.6% block rate. He also rarely leaves the court as he's averaging 32.6 minutes per game. The Stanford big man is my favorite play on the slate. If Ziaire Williams is limited or out and Daejon Davis remains out, da Silva will have to play as minutes as he can handle (his rates also figure to climb).

Eugene Omoruyi, Oregon ($7,000) - Omoruyi is posting an eye-popping 29.8% usage rate and he's taking 29.7% of the Ducks' shots when he's on the floor (both lead team). The senior is also an effective rebounder (9.6% offensive rebounding rate and 10.9% defensive rebounding rate) and a willing passer (15.0% assist rate). As noted above, this is an excellent spot for the Oregon Ducks -- Omoruyi should have plenty of opportunities to make plays on Thursday night.

Javan Johnson, Iowa State ($5,800) - Admittedly, the matchup with Kansas is tough (the Jayhawks have the nation's 24th-ranked defense). However, Johnson's versatility is appealing and allows him to rack up fantasy points in a variety of ways. The junior is taking 24.4% of the team's shots when he's on the floor which ranks second amongst the Iowa State Cyclones. He also has an 8.9% offensive rebounding rate, 11.2% defensive rebounding rate, 19.7% assist rate, and a 3.0% block rate. Additionally, he's logging heavy minutes and has played at least 37 minutes in three out of his last four games.

Jalen Wilson, Kansas ($5,600) - Wilson has played 76 out of 80 possible minutes over the Jayhawks' last two games. The bottom line is that his salary has adjusted to his elevated role. The freshman is posting a healthy 24.0% usage rate (second on the team), 8.8% offensive rebounding rate, 21.2% defensive rebounding rate (leads team), and a 16.0% assist rate. Throw in a matchup with the fast-paced and defensive deficient Iowa State Cyclones and Wilson looks like one of the best plays on the slate. Iowa State is 89th in tempo nationally and 138th defensively. Teammate David McCormack ($6,900) has been unstoppable down in the post as of late and looks like a fantastic play.

Spencer Jones, Stanford ($4,700) - The Cardinal are getting healthier as Ziaire Williams and Bryce Wills were available for the team's last game (Wills played, Williams did not play). While Williams' return will likely cut into Jones' playing time, there's a chance that doesn't happen right away (Williams was in quarantine so it's unknown if he'll be on a minutes limit). Jones has played 32 minutes in each of the last two games. Perhaps, most importantly, Jones provides a ton of salary relief, which is hard to find on this slate. Colorado's Evan Battey ($4,900) is also a fine source of salary relief. He's playing through an injury so make sure he's in the starting lineup if you're considering rostering him.

Other players to consider for salary relief ($5,000 or less): Evan Battey, Dallas Walton, and Kimani Lawrence.

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.