DFS College Basketball: Sunday Preview

DFS College Basketball: Sunday Preview

This article is part of our DFS College Basketball series.

A four-game slate tips off at 5:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, featuring three Big Ten games and one from the American conference. There's $2k up for grabs in the $8 Spin Move on DraftKings. Let's take a look at the implied totals chart before jumping into today's plays:

Targets

1. Caleb Mills, G, Houston ($4,600 DK, $4,300 FD)

Following a three-game absence due to an ankle injury, Mills has returned with performances of 17.3 and 15.3 DraftKings points. If you compare the sixth-man's marks to last season, however, he's trailing by 3.7 minutes, 3.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists. If the sophomore guard keeps doing what he's been doing, he won't kill your lineup. His ceiling is in the mid-30s, however, so here's your chance to grab him while the price is low.  

Editor's Note: Caleb Mills was a surprise scratch from this game Sunday morning due to personal reasons. There's not an easy pivot given he was a sixth-man, but the remaining Houston guards may be worth a look.

2. Michael Devoe, G, Georgia Tech ($5,900 DK)

The buy-low window on Devoe is closing after the junior has averaged 27.8 DK points/game over his last four contests. He's the GT usage leader at 24.1 percent, but is only the third-highest priced player on a team with the second-highest implied point total of the day. Now, let's look at the opponent. Wake Forest has played all of three games this season, going a month between two games against teams outside the KenPom top-300 before narrowly defeating (70-62) Division-II Catawba College on New Year's Eve. The Demon Deacons had less than half their roster available for that contest, so it's unclear how close to full strength they might be just three days later. I picked Devoe to highlight because of the price, usage and WF backcourt injuries, but Moses Wright ($8,100 DK) and Jose Alvarado ($8,100 DK) are also excellent spend-up options.

3. Duane Washington, G, Ohio State ($6,600 DK, $5,900 FD)

A king of consistency this season having only been under 20 DK points once, Washington leads the Buckeyes in usage at 26.1 percent and is one of only two players to average 30.0 mpg. Minnesota will be one of the biggest up-tempo matchups Washington has seen this season, and this is the highest over/under game on the Sunday slate. Less than four points separate the Buckeyes from Michigan -- the top implied total on the slate. Be sure not to overlook this matchup, especially given the tremendous value Washington provides on FanDuel.

4. Gabe Kalscheur, G, Minnesota ($4,700 DK, $5,700 FD)

First things first, go ahead and get Marcus Carr ($9,400 DK, $8,700 FD) in your lineups. It's a lot easier to do on FanDuel, where he's priced cheaper and there are no Georgia Tech players to target. Everyone has a down game against the Badgers, and Carr absolutely lit up the Buckeyes last season, torching them for 54.3 DK points back on Dec. 15.

Now, for Kalscheur. Full disclosure, I won't touch him on FD (where Marcus Sasser shares the same price), but the DK price makes him a great value to pair with Mills and start squeezing in studs. Sure, some might see shooting 5-for-23 from beyond the arc in three Big Ten games as a problem, but all I choose to notice is the 23 attempts. The Buckeyes are allowing opponents to hit 34.6 percent of their three-pointers, good for No. 218 in the nation. I expect some of those shots to start falling. Kalscheur is also ranked third on the Gophers in usage, and definitely hasn't hit his scoring ceiling yet. His scoring average and field goal percentage are both down, but I expect that to level out with a larger sample sizer. 

Fades

1. Isaiah Livers, F, Michigan ($7,100 DK, $6,600 FD)

In three Big Ten games, Livers has scored 32.3 DK points once (against Nebraska, arguably the conference's worst team) and been under 20 the other two. What's the common denominator here? Hunter Dickinson ($8,800 DK, $7,500 FD) has started all three of those games and is hogging the boards, averaging 11.0 rpg. Livers is coming off a season-low in minutes (26) and field goals attempted (five) on New Year's Eve against Maryland, and this was a game where foul trouble wasn't even a factor. The scoring sometimes saves Livers, but with Franz Wagner ($7,500 DK, $6,300 FD) heating up, that may not be the case anymore.

2. SMU Mustangs

Even coming off its first loss of the season, Houston is a top-10 defense in the country, while also playing at the No. 313th-ranked tempo. Kendric Davis ($8,500 DK, $8,200 FD) is not the stud to pay up for on this slate, and while a player like Emmanuel Bandoumel ($5,300 DK, $4,800 FD) may look like a great value at this price, expect a floor game here (though definitely check him out next week against Cincinnati).

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Jake Letarski plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: rotojakeski, DraftKings: RotoJakeSki.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jake Letarski
RotoWire Editor for College Basketball and MMA. Frequent podcaster, plus radio and video guest. Follow Jake on Twitter at @RotoJake.
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