Highest Scoring Teams:

(by Implied Points & Spread per KenPom)

  • Indiana -- 83 Points (-16 vs. Nebraska)
  • Creighton -- 79 Points (-18 vs. Rio Grande Valley)
  • Colorado -- 73 Points (-6 vs. Colorado State)

Guards 

Tyler Bey - Colorado ($8,700 DK / $8,100 FD)

Tonight’s salary king on both sites could go highly owned on this short slate, and rightfully so, because he has a DFS ceiling as high as anyone in action tonight. Bey is averaging 37.6 DK points so far and he’s due for a bounce back performance after putting up only 26 and 24.75 DK points in the last two games, respectively. The 6-foot-7 junior wing leads Colorado in offensive usage rate (24.6%) and his knack for drawing fouls, blocking shots, and stealing the ball are among the best in the country. What Bey does better than all that, though, is rebound the basketball, and that skill alone should put him in line for a massive performance tonight. Bey is the best rebounder on the team - averaging 11 boards per game, and his 33.6% defensive rebounding rate is the third-best mark in the whole country. Couple that with Colorado State being terrible on the offensive boards (303rd in the country per KenPom), and Bey should have a field day on the glass. Even at a smaller size than most elite rebounders, Bey had five double-digit rebound games in the first six games with 19 and 17 boards in two different games. This rebounding talent keeps Bey’s DFS floor pretty high in this matchup and we can feel safe paying up for him in all formats. Plus, his guard-forward dual eligibility on DK is an added bonus for roster construction. 

Marcus Zegarowski - Creighton ($8,400 DK / $7,600 FD)

Even though Creighton is expected to win big at home vs. Rio Grande Valley tonight, there are a number of high-priced Bluejay guards who are firmly in play on this short slate. Along with Ty-Shon Alexander and Mitch Ballock, sophomore point guard Marcus Zegarowski should be a safe cash game play with upside for more in your GPP lineups. He leads Creighton in offensive usage (25%), shots share (27%) and assist rate (25%) this season, and has taken the most three-point attempts on the team (66) while making 39.4% of them. He’s the offensive catalyst for the Bluejays’ offense and his expensive price tag is warranted, as he’s coming off a 50 DK point performance in his last game and has put up at least 31 DK points in all but two games so far. There’s a chance former starter Davion Mintz could return tonight, but he would likely only play limited minutes off the bench, and shouldn’t take away from Zegarowski being the do-it-all point guard for Creighton.  

Rob Phinisee - Indiana ($5,200 DK / $4,700 FD)

Phinisee finally returned to Indiana’s rotation on Tuesday after missing the four previous games due to an ankle injury. In his return, the sophomore guard had six points, four rebounds and two assists in 13 minutes off the bench vs. UConn. Assuming he’s still healthy (and there have been no reports to the contrary), we should expect Phinisee to start seeing more playing time moving forward. He was averaging 21.7 minutes in reserve through the first three games before his ankle injury. In those games, he put up at least 21 DK points each time out and played a huge role in Indiana’s backcourt. Phinisee is not only the Hoosiers’ best ball-handler, but he’s also the best on-ball defender on the team. The attributes that allowed him to start 29 games at point guard last year for Indiana as a freshman. We should start to see Phinisee get increased playing time and become more involved on both ends of the floor with Indiana entering conference play. He can easily provide 4x or 5x value at this price tag, and this is one of the lowest salaries we’ll see for him once he reaches full health and minutes share.  

Kendle Moore - Colorado State ($4,600 DK / $4,500 FD)

Although Colorado’s defense is strong this season, 28th in efficiency per KenPom,  the one area they do struggle to defend is the three-pointer. The Buffs are allowing opposing teams to shoot 38.7% from deep thus far, which ranks 329th among all CBB teams. So with this matchup in mind, we naturally need to look at which Colorado State shooters are the best from three-point range, and Moore becomes a solid value tonight. The 5-foot-10 sophomore shooting guard has made 39.5% of his 38 three-point attempts this season, second on the team to Adam Thistlewood. If Colorado State wants to keep this game close, they will need to rely on their perimeter scoring more than usual because Colorado has a strong interior defense. Moore is second on the team in minutes share (73.2%), and that guaranteed playing time also allows him to add a few ancillary stats in addition to his three-point shooting. In six home games this year, Moore is averaging 17.3 DK points and is shooting much better from three than on the road,  43.5% at home and 33.3% away. 

Other Guards to Consider:

  • Ty-Shon Alexander - Creighton ($8,000 DK / $6,900 FD)
  • McKinley Wright - Colorado ($7,000 DK / $6,700 FD)
  • Devonte Green - Indiana ($6,600 DK / $5,400 FD)
  • Haanif Cheatham - Nebraska ($6,200 DK / $5,500 FD)
  • Shereef Mitchell - Creighton ($4,300 DK / $3,900 FD)

Forwards

Trayce Jackson-Davis - Indiana ($8,300 DK / $7,200 FD)

On this short slate without much elite talent at the forward position, Jackson-Davis is in a class of his own and should be targeted in all formats with a favorable matchup. The Hoosiers’ freshman big has been a beast to start his collegiate career with at least 32 DK points in six of ten games while averaging 14.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Although he’s middle-of-the-pack in terms of usage and shots share in Indiana’s rotation thus far, Jackson-Davis is the team’s best rebounder playing both the power forward and small-ball center roles at 6-foot-9 and 245 pounds. His rebounding prowess should allow him to rack up a ton of boards against a Nebraska team that is absolutely terrible on the glass this season. The Cornhuskers are one of the country’s worst teams in terms of both offensive and defensive rebounding, 341st and 338th, respectively, and are undersized the frontcourt. Jackson-Davis should have no problem grabbing his usual eight or nine boards with the legit upside for a high-scoring double-double, something he’s done four times already this year. Game log watchers may shy away from him because of his duds the last two games, but those came against good teams in Wisconsin and UConn. He’ll have a much easier matchup vs. Nebraska tonight. 

Christian Bishop - Creighton ($5,800 DK / $4,900 FD)

Full disclosure: every Creighton starter should be seriously considered on tonight’s three game slate because they play a large share of the minutes, get a pace-up matchup vs. Rio Grande Valley, and are projected to score the second-most points on the short schedule. And while the Bluejays play a smaller lineup than most teams across the country, Bishop is their best frontcourt player at the moment. His 30.3% combined rebounding rate is tops on the team among players getting more than 50% of the minutes share, and his 6-foot-7 frame won’t hurt him too much in this matchup because Rio Grande Valley also has a frontcourt on the smaller side. Plus, Bishop’s opponent tonight is terrible on the offensive and defensive boards, 298th and 281st in the country, respectively. This should lead to plenty of rebounding opportunities for him. 

Lucas Siewert - Colorado ($4,500 DK / $4,500 FD)

While Tyler Bey and McKinley Wright steal the national headlines for Colorado this season, this team does have a couple role players that we need to consider on tonight’s smaller slate. One of those key bench guys is 6-foot-10 senior big man Lucas Siewert, who can definitely return value in a favorable matchup. Siewert’s size gives the Colorado rotation a different look than usual and the Buffs could use his length against a Colorado State frontcourt that has a pair of taller centers at 6-foot-11 and 6-foot-9. Plus, Colorado State is very poor on the offensive boards, ranking 303rd in offensive rebounding, per KenPom, while Siewart’s 23.5% defensive rebounding rate is second-best on the team behind only Tyler Bey. Furthermore, Siewert showed us last game what his real DFS ceiling is after he put up 34 DK points thanks to his 21 points scored and five made three-pointers. 

Kelvin Jones - Creighton ($4,300 DK / $3,800 FD)

We mentioned Christian Bishop as a solid play tonight, but if Jones is suits up then he becomes one of the best value plays on the slate. Jones sat out Creighton’s last game on Saturday with an undisclosed injury but he was back practically in full earlier this week and seems likely to rejoin the rotation. The 6-foot-11 senior center instantly gives the Bluejays more size when he’s getting minutes, and he would immediately present a mismatch against the undersized Rio Grande Valley frontcourt. When he’s on the court this season, which was about 15 minutes per game before he got hurt, Jones led Creighton in rebounding rate. He put up at least 18 DK points over the first three games of the season and if he’s doing that with this cheap salary, he would be a smash value play on this short slate. Check the pre-game updates on Jones before this 8 pm ET tip, but Jones should be strongly considered in all formats if he’s warming up to play. 

Other Forwards to Consider:

  • Evan Battey - Colorado ($5,700 DK / $5,100 FD)
  • Adam Thistlewood - Colorado State ($4,700 DK / $4,600 FD)
  • Joey Brunk - Indiana ($4,400 DK / $4,200 FD)
  • Yvan Ouedraogo - Nebraska ($4,100 DK / $4,000 FD)

DraftKings Example Lineup:

G: Marcus Zegarowski - CRE ($8,400)

G: Rob Phinisee - IU ($5,200)

G: Kendle Moore - CSU ($4,600)

F: Trayce Jackson-Davis - IU ($8,300)

F: Tyler Bey - UC ($8,700)

F: Kelvin Jones - CRE ($4,300)

U: Lucas Siewert - UC ($4,500)

U: Christian Bishop - CRE ($5,800)

FanDuel Example Lineup:

G: Tyler Bey - COLO ($8,100)

G: Marcus Zegarowski - CRE ($7,600)

G: Rob Phinisee - IND ($4,700)

G: Ty-Shon Alexander - CRE ($6,900)

F: Kelvin Jones - CRE ($3,800)

F: Trayce Jackson-Davis - IND ($7,200)

F: Christian Bishop - CRE ($4,900)

U: McKinley Wright - COLO ($6,700)