College Basketball Single-Game Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 1/15/21 (Wisconsin at Rutgers)
In a traditional FanDuel college basketball lineup, you have a $60,000 salary cap to roster eight players. In the single-game setup, the salary cap is the same, but the lineup requirements are different.
You select five players of any position, but not all lineup slots are the same. One of your players will be your MVP, and his FanDuel points are multiplied by two. You also select a STAR player, whose production is multiplied by 1.5, and a PRO, whose points are multiplied by 1.2.. Two utility players round out the roster, and they don't receive a multiplier to their production.
This makes the five players you select important in more than one way, as you need to focus on slotting in the best plays in the multiplier slots rather than just nailing the best overall plays of the game.
Player Breakdowns
At The Top
Ron Harper Jr., Rutgers ($12,500) - The senior has a sparkling 126.5 offensive rating, which leads the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, per KenPom. Additionally, he's taking 29.2% of the team's shots when he's on the floor, per KenPom. Harper Jr. has the best combination of floor and upside amongst the Friday night participants. He has recorded at least 20.2 FanDuel points in all 10 games that he's played in this season. He has eclipsed 40 FanDuel points in three of those games.
Myles Johnson, Rutgers ($11,500) - Johnson's 19.0 usage rate ranks fourth amongst the Scarlet Knights starters. However, he can rack up fantasy points in a hurry because he's an active rebounder and an elite rim protector. The junior has a 12.7% offensive rebounding rate and a 26.7% defensive rebounding rate, per KenPom. He also has a 9.3% block rate, per KenPom. All three rank within the top 100 nationally. He's also locked into significant playing time, as he's logged at least 25 minutes in four straight games.
D'Mitrick Trice, Wisconsin ($11,000) - Trice leads the Wisconsin Badgers in minutes per game (31.0), points per game (15.2), and assists per game (3.5). He's also averaging 3.2 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game. Trice owns a 117.9 offensive rating, which leads all Badgers who play at least 50% of the team's minutes. He's in a good spot against the reeling Scarlet Knights. Rutgers has lost three straight games, and they're allowing 74.7 points per game in that time span.
In The Middle
Micah Potter, Wisconsin ($10,500) - Potter leads the Badgers with a 27.1% usage rate, per KenPom. He is also the Badgers leading rebounder, as he is averaging 6.9 rebounds per game. The only downside here is playing time. Potter has played 26 or fewer minutes in eight straight games. Despite the limited playing time, Potter is averaging 13.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 0.7 blocks/steals over the last three games.
Brad Davison, Wisconsin ($10,000) - Davison has hoisted up at least seven field goal attempts in eight straight games. His salary remains on the lower end because he's only connecting on 25.8% of his field goal attempts over the last four games. Prior to the shooting slump, Davison had connected on at least 42.9% of his field goal attempts in five straight games. He's also one of two Badgers who is averaging at least 25 minutes of playing per game (28.1).
Geo Baker, Rutgers ($9,500) - Baker has a starting assignment, plays plenty of minutes, and takes a ton of shots when he's on the floor. The starting shooting guard is averaging 30.3 minutes per game and 10.6 field goal attempts per game over the last seven games. While the matchup with Wisconsin is tough (Wisconsin is 8th in KenPom's defensive ranking), Baker's mid-tier salary is appetizing.
At The Bottom
Nate Reuvers, Wisconsin ($8,000) - Reuvers was a preseason All-Big Ten selection, but he has not played up to those expectations so far this season. Despite the struggles, the encouraging news is that he's posting a solid 24.1% usage rate (per KenPom), which ranks second amongst the Badgers. He also has a 5.7% block rate that leads the team. The bottom line is that I'm expecting Reuvers to turn his season around soon.
Aleem Ford, Wisconsin ($7,500) - Despite averaging 25.1 minutes per game, Ford is viable due to his ability to contribute both offensively and defensively. He's taking 21.9% of the Badgers shots when he's on the floor, per KenPom. Additionally, Ford has a 16.6% defensive rebounding rate and a 3.0% block rate, per KenPom. Ford is the safest option amongst the low salary players, as he's tallied at least 11.3 FanDuel points in 10 straight games.
Caleb McConnell, Rutgers ($7,000) - McConnell made 21 starts a season ago for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. He missed the first eight games this season due to an injury. The junior appears to be fully healthy after logging 22 minutes and 23 minutes in each of the last two games. He recorded 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in the Scarlet Knights' latest game. He's one of the better sources of salary relief on this single-game slate.
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.
