College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Tuesday 3/5/19

College basketball season is in full tilt.

March Madness is less than a month 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.

Where scoring differs from NBA is in the blocks and steals categories, with each worth two FanDuel points apiece rather than the three you get in daily NBA contests.

Now that you're in the know, we can attack today's main slate, which locks at 7:00 p.m. EST and consists of 10 games. Among them, five top-25 teams take to the road with 15th-ranked Virginia Tech at 14th-ranked Florida State.

Which players should you be targeting and why?

Guards

Ky Bowman, Boston College ($8,700): Tonight's game between the Boston College Eagles and North Carolina Tar Heels sports the highest over/under of them all at 157 points. It's one of only two games over 150, giving the underdog Eagles -- +11.0 -- a nice 73-point implied total. Because of that, both sides are in play, particularly with Boston College at home. Bowman is one of the most offensively-talented players in college basketball, averaging 19.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists for 35.4 FanDuel points per game, all on a 27.0% usage rate and 22.5% assist rate. In Conte Forum, he's been much better though, shooting 5.7% better from the floor and 4.3% from three en route to 20.8 points and 37.6 FanDuel points.

Coby White, North Carolina ($7,700): Opposite Bowman, freshman standout Coby White leads the Tar Heels with a 28.1% usage rate and 12.3 field goal attempts a game. A whopping 6.5 of those come from three, from where he's shooting 38.3% and making 2.5 per contest. However, in ACC play, White's numbers are up nearly across the board. On a 29.3% usage, he's averaging a team-high 18.3 points on 13.6 field goal attempts while knocking down 2.9 of 7.5 three-point bombs. That's amounted to 29.4 FanDuel points per game through 16 conference games, but that's with a cold stretch across four games last month. Over the last two, White has bounced back with a total of 62 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals (85.0 FanDuel points). He shouldn't have a problem sustaining that against an Eagles defense ranked 127th, according to KenPom.com.

Jordan Bone, Tennessee ($6,900): Tonight, there are five teams with implied totals of 75 or more. The Tennessee Volunteers are one of them, checking in at -8.0 with 78 points to their name as they host the Mississippi State Bulldogs. That number is nearly three below their average in SEC play, but it is more than they've scored in regulation in each of their last five games. In other words, we should be on them, and Bone is the key target with his price down. Bone experienced a sizable dip in games against Vanderbilt, LSU and Mississippi, account for no more than 19.6 FanDuel points. But last time out, the junior guard diced up Kentucky for 27 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, finishing with 39.1 FanDuel points. He has seven boom games of 30-plus fantasy points and another two that surpassed Tuesday's implied number (27.6 at 4.0 points per $1,000).

Jordan Chatman, Boston College ($5,100): Alongside Bowman, Chatman's a mainstay in BC's backcourt. While the senior has seen his fantasy production take a downturn in recent weeks, he was a more attractive option early on, even in conference action. For the season, he has posted eight games above tonight's salary-implied output (20.4 FanDuel points) and nine with at least 20. He's averaging a juicy 35.2 minutes and 13.5 points on 10.6 shots per. He should also be aided by the Tar Heels' pace of play (fourth in adjusted tempo), which has them averaging 7.4 more possessions per game than the slower Eagles.

Quentin Grimes, Kansas ($5,000): The Kansas Jayhawks are in a not-so-obvious matchup on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners, though they are one-point favorites with a respectable 71.75 implied total. However, target Kansas player could pay off quite well in tournaments because they could go lower-owned. Grimes is the value play to get exposure to here, as the prized freshman takes advantage of Lagerald Vick's absence, averaging 36 minutes in the last two and turning that opportunity into 14.5 points and 22.5 FanDuel points per game. He is 10 of 19 with seven three-pointers in those two, and he gets a Sooners defense allowing 40.4% of shots to come from three, according to Hoop-Math.

Forwards

Dedric Lawson, Kansas ($8,900): Going from the bottom to the very top, Lawson is the fourth-most expensive player on the entire slate, but he is second among healthy players (looking at Zion Williamson) with 36.6 FanDuel points a game. Like others mentioned above, the 6'9" forward had a dry spell in the aftermath of injuries to Vick and Udoka Azubuike. Be he has since rounded into form, posting three double-doubles in his past five, and in his last two specifically averaging 19.0 points and 43.7 FanDuel points over 33.5 minutes. Lawson has unique across-the-board production, and that was evident last time out against OU, going for 13 points, 15 boards, 3 blocks and 1 assist (37.5 FanDuel points). The Sooners are ninth in the Big 12 in rebounding, eighth in blocks against and seventh in steals against, which only adds to Lawson's appeal as a top target this evening.

Xavier Tillman, Michigan State ($7,000): Dropping down considerably in price, Tillman has all the makings of a prime play on Tuesday night. Teammate Nick Ward remains out, and the team has already been without one of its leading scorers in Joshua Langford, who is out for the year. That's boosted Tillman's standing in the Michigan State Spartans' pecking order, as the sophomore has attempted nine or more field goals in three straight games while averaging just 5.5 for the year. His usage rate has surpassed his average in two of the three games, and he capped off Saturday's game with a double-double, four blocks and 30.5 FanDuel points. The Nebraska Cornhuskers are a respectable defense -- 55th per KenPom.com -- but Tillman's Spartans are fourth in implied total and return home, where they have averaged 84.4 points per game and 75.5 in Big Ten play.

Marques Bolden, Duke ($5,400): As we alluded to, Zion Williamson is looking likely to sit out for a final time tonight for the Duke Blue Devils, who get the benefit of hosting the slate's worst defensive team in Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons and their 226th-ranked defense are giving up 76.0 points per game and an even higher 78.9 in conference games alone. Naturally, the Blue Devils are atop the slate with a 90.25 total as big (-26.5) favorites at Cameron Indoor. And so long as Williamson's left on the bench, that means big things for Bolden. After moving to the bench for two straight games, the big man returned to the starting lineup on Saturday, going for 15 points, 10 rebounds and 32.0 FanDuel points in the process. It's the junior's second straight game with 14-plus points, and he now has two 30-point outings in his last five. Given the soft opponent, Bolden could go off once again tonight.

Nick Richards, Kentucky ($4,600): Kentucky's is not one of the cupcake variety. They take to the road against a Mississippi club getting just five points on the spread and rating in the top 50 in KenPom's adjusted efficiency margin. Their defense is okay, but the matchup is almost irrelevant given the circumstances. Usual starter Reid Travis is can be termed questionable to play at this time, having missed three games already because of a knee ailment. It's unlikely he gets back out there with the Wildcats eyeing the SEC and NCAA tournaments, which should give Richards another spot to shine. While many expected EJ Montgomery to step into more minutes, it's been Richards slotting into Travis' spot, turning 20, 25 and 26 minutes into 17.1, 29.0 and 22.9 FanDuel points, respectively. He'll be very chalky, but with little low-priced value Richards is a must in nearly all lineups.

Brett Oswalt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett Oswalt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BRO14THEKID. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his 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.