FanDuel College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Monday 2/28/22
College basketball's conference play is winding down, and we have a five-game slate today.
March Madness is only a few weeks 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?
Guards
Terrell Brown Jr., Washington ($8,200) - Brown Jr. dominates the ball and plays a ton of minutes. The senior is ranked within the top 20 nationally in usage rate (32.1%) and shot percentage (33.0%). Brown Jr. is also averaging 35.9 minutes per game. Despite being a volume shooter, Brown Jr. does a solid job of distributing the ball. He is posting an eye-opening 32.1% assist rate. He makes for an interesting tournament play, as I suspect spending up for Armando Bacot and Keegan Murray will be a popular roster construction.
Caleb Love, North Carolina ($6,100) - The North Carolina Tar Heels have really shortened their rotation as the season has progressed. Love has logged 38-plus minutes in four straight games. He is leading the Tar Heels in usage rate (25.2%) and assist rate (20.7%). The sophomore should love the matchup with Syracuse's 2-3 zone. The Syracuse zone typically leads to a lot of three-point field goal attempts by Syracuse opponents. Love is connecting on 38.8% of his deep balls this season.
RJ Davis, North Carolina ($5,600) - The Tar Heels will be very popular on Monday night. The matchup with Syracuse is phenomenal. The Orange have struggled mightily on the defensive end of the court (ranked 220th in defensive efficiency). They also play at a decent pace (136th in adjusted tempo). Davis is averaging 35.0 minutes per game over the last four games. Like Caleb Love, RJ Davis is also an exceptional three-point shooter. Davis is connecting on 39.8% of field goal attempts beyond the arc.
Joseph Girard III, Syracuse ($5,600) - The Syracuse point guard is playing heaving minutes (averaging 33.4 minutes per game) and taking a lot of shots (averaging 10.5 field goal attempts per game). He is also a solid ball distributor as evidenced by his 22.6% assist rate. The matchup with North Carolina is a significant pace-up spot for the Orange. North Carolina is 39th in adjusted tempo, while Syracuse checks in at 136th. The Syracuse and North Carolina showdown is the slate's best game environment. The total sits at 157.0, per FanDuel sportsbook, which is six points higher than any other game on the slate.
Jules Bernard, UCLA ($5,100) - The UCLA Bruins could be without Johnny Juzang. His absence (or even if he's limited) would open a ton of usage (leads the team with a 26.5% usage rate). Regardless of Juzang's availability, Bernard is under-salaried. The lefty is averaging 12.0 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game. The matchup with Washington is exceptional. The Huskies play at a fast pace, and they're not concerned with playing defense. Washington ranks 57th in adjusted tempo (UCLA is 257th) and 117th in defensive efficiency.
Forwards
Keegan Murray, Iowa ($8,400) - It's a short slate but Monday night is loaded with three studs including Terrell Brown Jr., Armando Bacot, and Keegan Murray. Murray has been a dominant force on both ends of the court for the Iowa Hawkeyes. The sophomore has an insane floor and a sky-high ceiling. He has posted at least 33 FanDuel points in six straight games while also eclipsing 50 FanDuel points on two occasions. The matchup with Northwestern is a solid spot for Murray. Northwestern's defense is overly imposing (ranked 61st in defensive efficiency). Although I prefer Murray, Armando Bacot ($8,700) is also a fantastic spend-up option.
Brady Manek, North Carolina ($6,600) - Manek is an intriguing play due to his ability to contribute to every major statistical area. The senior ranks second amongst the Tar Heels with a 25.1% shot rate (percentage of the team's shot attempts by the player when he is on the floor). He is also posting a 15.9% defensive rebounding, 12.3% assist rate, and a 2.1% block rate. Lastly, Manek is playing as many minutes as he can handle. Manek has logged at least 30 minutes of playing in each of the last eight games.
Jimmy Boeheim, Syracuse ($5,700) - There is a chance that Boeheim won't be nearly as popular as he would otherwise be due to recency bias. Syracuse was absolutely dismantled on Saturday, and Jimmy managed 1.7 FanDuel points. However, Boeheim is a prime bounce-back spot on Monday night. Syracuse's opponent, North Carolina, loves to push the pace (as noted in the Girard III section). They also struggle on the defensive end of the court (ranked 87th in defensive efficiency). Prior to Saturday's poor performance, Boeheim had posted 32-plus FanDuel points in three consecutive games.
Patrick McCaffrey, Iowa ($4,400) - McCaffrey's playing time has dropped off over the last three games. He is only playing 21.3 minutes per game during that stretch, which is down from his seasonal average of 25.1. While his playing time has been cut back some, he is still taking his fair share of shots. McCaffrey has launched 26 shot attempts over the last three games (averages 9.5 per game this season). I believe he may fly under the radar despite his sinking salary. P-Mac is one of the better sources of salary relief at forward.
Bourama Sidibe, Syracuse ($4,200) - Sidibe is getting run for the Orange with Jesse Edwards sidelined. The seven-footer played a season-high 26 minutes against the Duke Blue Devils last Saturday. His size will be needed against North Carolina standout center Armando Bacot. Sidibe is averaging 0.86 FanDuel points per minute over the last four games. He does not need a lot of playing time to pay off his salary.
One final note: Syracuse utilizes a short rotation. They have struggled finding a suitable replacement for Jesse Edwards. Benny Williams ($3,900) could be worth a look as a way to get contrarian. Williams is a top-40 prospect from the class of 2021. It would make sense for Syracuse to give him some playing time now as their season has imploded. Williams received extended playing time against Duke due to the blowout. He poured in 14 points and collected 6 rebounds in 30 minutes of action. I WOULD NOT roster Williams and Sidibe together, though.
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.
