College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 1/20/21

College basketball season is entering conference play, and we have a five-game slate today.

March Madness is a ways off at this point, 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 NBA contests.

Now that you're in the know, we can attack today's slate, which locks at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Which players should you be targeting, and why?

Relevant injury situations to monitor: Creighton Bluejays guard Marcus Zegarowski is questionable. If he's out, Shareef Mitchell becomes a great source of salary relief. Providence Friars guard Jared Bynum is day-to-day. If he's out, AJ Reeves makes for a fine source of salary relief. Kentucky Wildcats guard Terrance Clarke is likely to miss Wednesday night's game.

All stats come from KenPom unless otherwise noted.

Guards

David Duke, Providence ($8,400) - Duke is my top overall player on the Wednesday night slate and it's not even close. The Providence Friars' guard will play nearly the entire game (eight straight games with 39-plus minutes). He also has a 27.4% usage rate and a 26.6% assist rate to lead the Friars. The matchup with the Creighton Bluejays is a pace-up game for Providence. Providence ranks 297th in tempo nationally while Creighton is 119th.

D'Mitrick Trice, Wisconsin ($7,100) - Trice provides one of the safest floors on the slate. He owns a 117.5 offensive rating and 25.2% assist rate, both of which lead the Wisconsin Badgers. He also has a 23.9% usage rate, which ranks second amongst the Badgers. The Wisconsin guard also rarely leaves the court as he's recorded at least 32 minutes of playing time in seven straight games. He's tallied at least 23.4 FanDuel points in each of those seven contests.

Denzel Mahoney, Creighton ($6,500) - Mahoney is a fine play regardless of Marcus Zegarowski's status on Wednesday night. He is almost always on my radar due to his ability to contribute on both ends of the court. His 24.6% usage rate stands out the most, as it's tied for the team lead with Zegarowski. If Zegarowski is limited or out (hamstring injury), Mahoney is nearly unavoidable. In two games without Zegarowski, Mahoney has averaged 27.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.5 steals in 36.5 minutes (equates to an average of 38.6 FanDuel points). Backcourt mate Damien Jefferson ($6,300) is an interesting tournament play because he has an enormous ceiling. Jefferson recorded 43.1 FanDuel points in the Bluejays' first meeting with Providence this season.

Marcus Sasser, Houston ($5,900) - Sasser plays the second-most minutes (32.2 minutes per game) amongst the Houston Cougars and he's also the second-leading scorer (15.5 points per game). His salary has remained stagnant as he's struggled shooting the ball as of late (37.5% or worse in five out of the last six games). The good news is that Sasser isn't afraid to keep hoisting up shots. He's averaging an eye-popping 13.0 field goal attempts per game. If he finds his stroke, he'll blow away his current salary.

Devin Askew, Kentucky ($4,500) - The freshman has been relied upon heavily by the Kentucky Wildcats for the better part of the last month. Askew has logged at least 31 minutes in six out of the last seven games. As a result of his heavy minutes, he tallied at least 10 FanDuel points in all six of those games. The matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs will be one of the best spots that Askew will be in all season. The Bulldogs love to push the tempo and they are not particularly concerned with playing defense. Georgia ranks 8th nationally in tempo and 102nd defensively. Backcourt mate Davion Mintz ($4,800) is also a solid source of salary relief.

Other players to consider for salary relief ($5,000 or less): Davion Mintz, AJ Reeves (better if Jared Bynum is out), Dontaie Allen, and Shereef Mitchell (only if Marcus Zegarowski is out).

Forwards

Tounami Camara, Georgia ($7,500) - Camara is an excellent rebounder (9.3% offensive rebounding rate and 18.3% defensive rebounding rate) and an elite defender (block and steal rates are both above 3%). He's also active on the offensive end of the court as his 24.6% usage rate ranks second amongst the Georgia Bulldogs. Camara will likely play as many minutes as he can handle against a big Kentucky frontcourt. Camara is the tallest player amongst the Georgia regular rotation players as he stands in at 6'8". Meanwhile, Kentucky has five rotation players that measure at least 6'7".

Aamir Simms, Clemson ($6,800) - Simms is the classic boom or bust play. His rates are strong across the board: 25.7% usage rate, 11.2% offensive rebounding rate, 15.6% defensive rebounding rate, 21.0% assist rate, 4.0% block rate, and a 2.5% steal rate. The downside here is that he tends to find himself in foul trouble (called for 4.8 fouls per 40 minutes). However, Georgia Tech has only one player that is drawing 3.5-plus fouls per 40 minutes (Moses Wright). This is also a good matchup for the Clemson Tigers as Georgia Tech owns the fourth-worst defense in the ACC (84th nationally).

Micah Potter, Wisconsin ($6,200) - Potter leads the Badgers with a 27.7% usage rate, 9.6% offensive rebounding rate, and a 25.5% defensive rebounding rate. The sophomore is in a good spot to top it all off. The game with the Northwestern Wildcats represents a pace-up spot for Wisconsin. Wisconsin is 337th in KenPom's tempo rankings while Northwestern is 121st. Additionally, Northwestern's defense is nothing to fear (72nd in KenPom's defensive rankings) as they rank 10th amongst 14 B1G Ten teams.

Keion Brooks, Kentucky ($5,800) - Brooks may fly under the radar after fouling out in 12 minutes in the Wildcats' close loss to Auburn last Saturday. After missing the first nine games of the season, Brooks has played in three straight contests. He's averaging 1.11 FanDuel points per minute. At that production level, he should pay off his salary in 20.9 minutes (assuming value is 4.0 fantasy points for every $1,000 of a player's salary). Brooks logged 23-plus minutes in his first two games this season.

Tyler Wahl, Wisconsin ($4,400) - The sophomore's playing time has increased dramatically as of late. He's averaging 30 minutes per game over the last three games which is up from his seasonal average of 21.8 minutes per game. Additionally, Wahl was inserted into the starting lineup for the struggling Nate Reuvers in the Badgers' 60-54 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights last Friday. Wahl responded with four points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal in 35 minutes (19.2 FanDuel points).

Other players to consider for salary relief ($5,000 or less): Jimmy Nichols Jr. and Jacob Toppin.

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.