EARLY SLATE (DK Only)
Highest Scoring Teams:
(by Implied Points per KenPom)
Seton Hall -- 84 Points (-30 vs. Florida A&M)
Arizona State -- 79 Points (-1 vs. St. John’s)
St. John’s -- 78 Points (+1 vs. Arizona State)
Memphis -- 76 Points (-5 vs. Mississippi)
Best Plays
Myles Powell - Seton Hall ($8,400)
If you’ve been following college basketball at all over the past couple years, you probably have heard of Myles Powell. He’s one of the best pure scorers in the country and is a nightly threat to score 30 points - like he did against Michigan State earlier this year when he dropped 37 points and 51.5 DK points. The Seton Hall offense runs through Powell as the senior guard has a 36.4% usage rate and 38.3% shots share - both top 20 marks in the country. In his three full games played this season, Powell has put up at least 26 points scored and 39 DK points in all of them. He should have no problem lighting it up today vs. Florida A&M’s terrible defense.
Precious Achiuwa - Memphis ($7,300)
With James Wiseman sitting out until January, Precious Achiuwa is now the main guy down low for Memphis and he’s already benefiting from the increased role. In the two games without Wiseman, Achiuwa has led the team in offensive usage by a pretty wide margin and he’s been their go-to scoring option. In those games, the former McDonald’s All-American had 20 points, eight rebounds and 34 DK points with a 42% usage in one outing and 16 points, 12 boards and 37.5 DK points with a 30% usage in the other. The college basketball world is finally getting to see the legit talent of Achiuwa, who was a five-star prospect himself and would be the best player on Memphis if Wiseman didn’t join him.
Joseph Girard - Syracuse ($5,400)
Girard’s role has increased dramatically lately with Syracuse’s starting point guard Jalen Carey now out for 8-10 weeks with a thumb injury. Over the last two games, Girard stepped into the starting rotation and was very productive in his newfound role. The freshman scored 24 points and 38 DK points in 31 minutes in his first game as a starter, and then followed that up with 24 DK points with six boards and four assists in 36 minutes in his second. With his guaranteed playing time in ‘Cuse’s short rotation - and as the new starting point guard - Girard is one of the better value plays on the slate.
Alonzo Verge - Arizona State ($5,300)
The Arizona State-St. John’s matchup is one we definitely want to target tonight as it involves two fast-paced teams who love to run the court and score quickly. There are some very good expensive players on both teams we can use, but Alonzo Verge is the best value in this game. As a starting guard for ASU, the junior has the highest shots share on the team and the second-highest offensive usage and assist rate. He’s coming off a game where he put up 32.5 DK points with a stuffed stat line of 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals. In his two other games, Verge put up 18 and 21.5 DK points - but we can expect a performance slightly better than those in this high-scoring game. It’s odd to see Verge as the sixth-most expensive Sun Devils player despite his high involvement on offense - and we should take advantage of DK’s mispricing here.
Blake Hinson - Mississippi ($3,000)
Some may remember Hinson from last season when he started 31 of 32 games for Ole Miss as a freshman and was a value play for us at times for CBB DFS. The minimum price tag may be misleading, but Hinson is set to make his season debut today after sitting out the first four games while battling an illness. It remains to be seen how much playing time he’ll get in his first game back, but we really don’t need that much from him to return value here. Last year, Hinson was a regular starter on the wing for the Rebels and averaged 8.3 points and shot 34.8% from three-point range. At 6-foot-7, Hinson’s length and size will be needed in today’s matchup vs. Memphis and we could see 15-20 minutes from him even if he doesn’t start right away. We’ll take that all day at min price.
Other Players to Consider:
Remy Martin - Arizona State ($8,700)
LJ Figueroa - St. John’s ($8,200)
Josh Roberts - St. John’s ($7,400)
D.J. Jeffries - Memphis ($6,000)
Lester Quinones - Memphis ($5,400)
Tomas Woldetensae - Virginia ($4,200)
Example Lineup:
G: Joseph Girard - SYR ($5,400)
G: Myles Powell - SHU ($8,400)
G: Blake Hinson - MISS ($3,000)
F: Precious Achiuwa - MEM ($7,300)
F: LJ Figueroa - STJN ($8,200)
F: DJ Jeffries - MEM ($6,000)
U: Rasheem Dunn - STJN ($6,000)
U: Lester Quinones - MEM ($5,400)
NIGHT SLATE (DK & FD)
Highest Scoring Teams:
(by Implied Points per KenPom)
Gonzaga -- 82 Points (-25 vs. Cal St. Bakersfield)
Purdue -- 76 Points (-20 vs. Jacksonville State)
SMU -- 65 Points (-2 vs. UNLV)
UNLV -- 63 Points (+2 vs. SMU)
Best Plays
Killian Tillie - Gonzaga ($7,200 DK / $7,000 FD)
Tillie wasn’t expected back for another week or two but he made his season debut on Tuesday and immediately returned to a starting role for Gonzaga. In that game, Tillie played 27 minutes, scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds as he didn’t seem to be limited following October knee surgery. It’s also a good sign to see Tillie get as much playing time and offensive usage as he did in his first game back. The 6-foot-10 senior was one of the main holdovers from a Gonzaga team that lost so much talent this summer, and Tillie should be one of the top scoring options in this offense for the rest of the season. His price tag, though, does not reflect how expensive he’ll likely be in a month after he puts up some big DFS performance - one of which could easily come tonight vs. a bad Cal State Bakersfield team.
Aaron Wheeler - Purdue ($6,500 DK / $6,300 FD)
Although Wheeler doesn’t normally shoot a ton in Purdue’s offense, his DFS production will consistently be high enough to return value because of his rebounding abilities. The 6-foot-9 sophomore leads the Boilermakers in defensive rebounding and combined rebounding rate this season - even with 7-foot-3 Matt Haarms manning the center position. He’s only scored in double-digits twice through four games, but his 8.3 rebounds per game and solid production in other stats has allowed him to put up at least 23 DK points in every outing. Wheeler was a bench player last year for Purdue but he’s now firmly entrenched in the starting rotation this season as one of the better defenders in the Big Ten.
Admon Gilder - Gonzaga ($6,100 DK / $6,200 FD)
The Texas A&M transfer had a quiet start to the season, but he’s starting to play like one of Gonzaga’s best players lately. Gilder has back-to-back games of at least 30 DK points after he averaged less than 20 over the first three games. In those outings, Gilder has averaged 15.5 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists with 33 and 34 minutes played, respectively. We may see Gilder’s shot share decrease with Killian Tillie back healthy, but Gilder will continue to have a large role in the Zags’ offense as the starting shooting guard. He and Ryan Woolridge are the top ball-handling guards on a team with a bunch of stretch-bigs, so his playing time is safe going forward even with Tillie back. Plus, his DFS floor remains fairly high even if he isn’t scoring a ton because of his involvement as a rebounder and passer.
Kendric Davis - SMU ($4,500 DK Only)
The TCU transfer finally received his eligibility to play immediately and he’s in line to make his season debut tonight. There’s a good chance Davis slides into SMU’s starting point guard role eventually and that could even happen as early as today. The Mustangs don’t have a true distributor or ball-handler at point guard right now and Davis should have an immediate role. Last year for TCU, Davis only started two games but he had the second-highest assist rate on the team and was one of the better defenders. If you’re playing on DraftKings, this is a solid value play in a game that should be lower-scoring compared to the other two games on the slate.
Other Players to Consider:
Isiah Mike - SMU ($8,200 DK Only)
Ryan Woolridge - Gonzaga ($7,300 DK / $7,200 FD)
Jahaad Proctor - Purdue ($6,700 DK / $6,800 FD)
Elijah Mitrou-Long - UNLV ($6,000 DK Only)
Trevion Williams - Purdue ($4,400 DK / $4,300 FD)
DraftKings Example Lineup:
G: Admon Gilder - GONZ ($6,100)
G: Ryan Woolridge - GONZ ($7,300)
G: Kendric Davis - SMU ($4,500)
F: Aaron Wheeler - PUR ($6,500)
F: Killian Tillie - GONZ ($7,200)
F: Trevion Williams - PUR ($4,400)
U: Jahaad Proctor - PUR ($6,700)
U: Feron Hunt - SMU ($7,100)
FanDuel Example Lineup:
G: Admon Gilder - GONZ ($6,200)
G: Ryan Woolridge - GONZ ($7,200)
G: Jahaad Proctor - PUR ($6,800)
G: Nojel Eastern - PUR ($5,200)
F: Killian Tillie - GONZ ($7,000)
F: Aaron Wheeler - PUR ($6,300)
F: Trevion Williams - PUR ($4,300)
U: Matt Haarms - PUR ($6,500)