This article is part of our DFS College Basketball series.
Top Players:
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin ($9,000 FD, $11,000 DK): The most consistent force in both real-life and DFS college basketball this season, Happ is playing his way into a first-team All-American bid. He's had under 30 FanDuel points just once this season, and averages 40 on the year. Minnesota has plenty of size in the paint to contend with Happ in Jordan Murphy (6-7), Daniel Oturu (6-10) and the recently-returned Eric Curry (6-9). In last year's lone matchup against the Gophers, Happ produced 10 points, four rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. It may have been an off game by his standards, but Happ is generally as matchup proof as it gets.
Carsen Edwards, Purdue ($8,600 FD, $10,100 DK): Through five games in December, Edwards is averaging 36.5 FanDuel points, with nights of 46 and 50 mixed in. While Big Ten matchups are generally regarded as slow paced, Iowa's tempo ranks No. 128 nationwide (per KenPom), while their defense lies outside the top-100. Edwards and the Boilermakers are tied with Indiana for the third-highest implied point total of the night, so this is a plenty fine spot to deploy Edwards if you can afford it.
Jordan Murphy, Minnesota ($8,500 FD, $9,900 DK): The third-highest priced player on both sites, Murphy is pretty close to matchup proof. I said "pretty close." Wisconsin is basically Virginia when it comes to fantasy kryptonite for opposing stars. Their pace is No. 336 in the country, while they sport a top-20 defense, according
Top Players:
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin ($9,000 FD, $11,000 DK): The most consistent force in both real-life and DFS college basketball this season, Happ is playing his way into a first-team All-American bid. He's had under 30 FanDuel points just once this season, and averages 40 on the year. Minnesota has plenty of size in the paint to contend with Happ in Jordan Murphy (6-7), Daniel Oturu (6-10) and the recently-returned Eric Curry (6-9). In last year's lone matchup against the Gophers, Happ produced 10 points, four rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. It may have been an off game by his standards, but Happ is generally as matchup proof as it gets.
Carsen Edwards, Purdue ($8,600 FD, $10,100 DK): Through five games in December, Edwards is averaging 36.5 FanDuel points, with nights of 46 and 50 mixed in. While Big Ten matchups are generally regarded as slow paced, Iowa's tempo ranks No. 128 nationwide (per KenPom), while their defense lies outside the top-100. Edwards and the Boilermakers are tied with Indiana for the third-highest implied point total of the night, so this is a plenty fine spot to deploy Edwards if you can afford it.
Jordan Murphy, Minnesota ($8,500 FD, $9,900 DK): The third-highest priced player on both sites, Murphy is pretty close to matchup proof. I said "pretty close." Wisconsin is basically Virginia when it comes to fantasy kryptonite for opposing stars. Their pace is No. 336 in the country, while they sport a top-20 defense, according to KenPom. Now, Murphy did record a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards before fouling out of their matchup last season. So I can see him has a contrarian option in GPPs, but he's a pretty strong fade for me in cash.
Games To Target:
Purdue (-10) vs. Iowa, o/u 148.5, 7:00 p.m. EST
Yesterday I preached avoiding the Big Ten, but I'm changing my tune today a bit. Of games featured on both sites, this is actually the night's highest over/under. It makes for a good set-up for Purdue's Carsen Edwards, who was discussed earlier. Despite a dud against Belmont, Ryan Cline ($6,500 FD, $6,200 DK) has been relatively consistent. Coach Matt Painter also replaced Matt Haarms ($5,300 FD, $4,700 DK) with Evan Boudreaux ($4,700 FD, $4,400 DK) in the starting lineup recently, but the latter is risky after playing a season-low eight minutes in his last start. I was unable to find a good explanation for that.
For Iowa, it really revolves around Luka Garza ($6,100 FD, DK), who has missed two games with an ankle injury. In his stead, Nic Baer ($6,200 FD, $5,300 DK) has stepped into the starting lineup and produced 33.8 FanDuel points against Bryant his last time out. Garza's absence would also elevate Tyler Cook ($8,200 FD, $8,700 DK), who is averaging 34.7 FanDuel points over his last five, including an effort of 40 fantasy points across 40 minutes in the matchup against Bryant.
USC (-10.5) vs. California, o/u 152.5, 11:00 p.m. EST (FanDuel Only)
By putting this under "games to target," what I really mean is target the Trojans. It's unfortunate this game is only on FanDuel, because my first click in today's lineup building is to lock in Bennie Boatwright ($7,600 FD). He's now scored 34 FanDuel points in back-to-back games, seemingly hitting his stride at the right time. He'll also face one of the worst defenses in the entire country, as Cal checks in at No. 320 in KenPom's defensive efficiency. Nick Rakocevic ($8,000 FD) is in play too, but he's a little more volatile. Somebody on the wing will need to step up as well, as Kevin Porter Jr. (quad) has already been ruled out, and Jordan Usher left the program recently. I prefer to get my replacement from starters Shaqquan Aaron ($5,900 FD) or Jonah Mathews ($6,400 FD), but Elijah Weaver ($4,500 FD) has also been thrown around as a punt play.
Memphis (-6.5) vs. Wichita State, o/u 154, 9:30 p.m. EST (DraftKings Only)
Due to some late line movement, Penny Hardaway's Tigers enter the night with the highest implied point total on the entire DraftKings slate (remember, it doesn't include USC). Jeremiah Martin ($8,000 DK) enters as the hottest Memphis player after scoring 50 DraftKings points in 28 minutes his last time out. Kyvon Davenport ($7,400 DK) has been mentioned in this column several times this year, but I limit use here to GPPs. He only scored 14.75 DraftKings points in his last game, but put up 54.75 in a loss to Tennessee back on Dec. 15. What's also worth noting is he hasn't been in starting lineup in the last nine games, but has still managed 30.4 DK points. Tyler Harris ($5,700 DK) is also in the conversation, but has failed to hit 20 DK points in two of his last four. There are plenty of equally-risky, sub-$5K options to roll the dice on if you need some salary relief. One might be Kareem Brewton Jr. ($4,500 DK), who made his first start of the season Dec. 29 and has averaged 20.3 DK points over his last three. The Shockers often run 10 or more deep, with Markis McDuffie ($7,600 DK) and Samajae Haynes-Jones ($5,500 DK) the only two players averaging more than 30.0 MPG.
Game To Avoid:
Michigan (-11) vs. Penn St, o/u 128, 7:00 p.m. EST
I'm not just being anti-Big Ten here -- this game has the lowest over/under on the slate by a sizable margin, and each team is in the bottom-7 in terms of implied points. Michigan players such as Iggy Bazdeikis ($7,700 FD, DK) and Charles Matthews ($6,900 FD, DK) are usually in play, but both might have a tough time hitting value against a top-25 opposing defense. The Nittany Lions also sit at No. 256 overall in KenPom's adjusted tempo. For Penn St., Lamar Stevens ($7,900 FD, $8,500 DK) started the year off on fire, but is averaging only 25.5 FanDuel points per game since Mike Watkins ($5,700 FD, $5,200 DK) entered the starting lineup. The price on both players seems to have adjusted appropriately.
Injuries:
Luka Garza, Iowa (ankle): Discussed in "games to target" section above.
Kevin Porter Jr., USC (quad - OUT): Discussed in "games to target" section above.
Dexter Dennis, Wichita St. (concussion): Dennis hasn't been a major fantasy factor since scoring 26.25 and 25.5 DraftKings points in back-to-back games in November. He had fallen out of the starting lineup even before missing back-to-back games due to a concussion.
Alex Olesinski, UCLA (foot): No new developments here. Nearing a return but has missed the entire year to date.
Charles O'Bannon Jr., USC (finger): Not really a fantasy factor. Missed every game since the opener.
