College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Thursday 12/5/19

College basketball season is upon us, and we have a three-game slate tonight.

March Madness is months 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 8:00 p.m. EST.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Guards

Tyson Carter, Mississippi State ($7,400) - Carter leads the Mississippi State Bulldogs in field goal attempts (13.1), points (17.6 per game), and assists (4.7 per game). He's also second on the team in minutes played (33.3 minutes per game). Carter the best kind of fantasy player to target; he plays a ton of minutes and takes a lot of shots. Add in a huge pace-up game for Mississippi State, and Carter becomes a great play. The Bulldogs are 304th in Ken Pom's adjusted tempo ranking, while Louisiana Tech is 58th

Samir Doughty, Auburn ($7,100) - Doughty is off to a great start in his final year as an Auburn Tiger. The shooting guard is averaging 19.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.7 blocks/steals in 30.4 minutes. It's a good time to roster Auburn's leading scorer, as the Tigers carry an implied team total of 78.75, which is a slate-high.

Austin Reeves, Oklahoma ($6,800) - Reeves has been on a roll in the Oklahoma Sooners' last four games. He topped 21.1 FanDuel points in all four games and scored over 35 FanDuel points in two of them. Look for Reeves to continue his hot streak against North Texas' vulnerable defense (129th in Ken Pom's adjusted defense ranking).

Robert Woodard II, Mississippi State ($6,600) - The emerging sophomore is just scratching the surface of the player that he can become. Woodard II is three games removed from his career day in which he scored 21 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, blocked 2 shots, and recorded 3 steals. He possesses monster upside at a middling price tag.

Jordan Lyons, Furman ($4,900) - Lyons leads the Furman Paladins in scoring (14.8 points per game) and field goal attempts (12.33 per game). He also ranks second in minutes played (31 minutes per games). He's wildly inconsistent, but his cheap price tag will allow you to spend up on some of the studs on this short slate.

Forwards

Reggie Perry, Mississippi State ($7,800) - Perry is a force on both ends of the court. The Bulldogs' forward is averaging 14.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.1 blocks/steals in 28.1 minutes of action. Perry has recorded 31.8 FanDuel points in six out of seven games this season. He's my top forward play on the slate.

Kristian Doolittle, Oklahoma ($7,200) - Doolittle is one of the best fantasy points per minute producers on the slate (1.02 fantasy points per minute). With Oklahoma installed as six-point favorites and playing their first true road game, I'd expect Doolittle to log heavy minutes. The senior should pay off his price tag if he plays at least 28 minutes (assuming value is 4x of the player's price tag). Doolittle has played 30 plus minutes in four out of the six games that he's played in this season.

Deng Geu, North Texas ($6,000) - The versatile big man has recorded at least 21.7 FanDuel points in five consecutive games despite playing 27 minutes or fewer in four of those games. The matchup with Oklahoma is a huge pace-up game for the Mean Green. Oklahoma is 50th in Ken Pom's adjusted tempo ranking while North Texas is 352nd. Those extra projected possessions should benefit Geu.

Isaac Okoro, Auburn ($5,800) - Okoro's playing time has been limited in each of the last four games due to a combination of foul trouble and blowouts. As a result, his price has remained affordable. The freshman forward is a valuable fantasy player due to his ability to contribute in every statistical category. Okoro is averaging 13.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 2.0 blocks/steals.

Zachary Simmons, North Texas ($4,500) - Simmons is a bit of a wildcard due to his roller coaster playing time. In North Texas' last game, the starting forward logged a season-high 31 minutes in a 77-66 win over Utah Valley. Simmons scored 12 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, recorded an assist, and blocked 3 shots. I'll bet on Simmons at his cheap price tag on this short slate. He averaged 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds a season ago.

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