FanDuel College Basketball Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 2/23/22

College basketball's conference play is winding down, and we have an eight-game slate today.

March Madness is only a few weeks 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.

Scoring differs from NBA in the blocks and steals categories; each is 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. All stats come from KenPom unless otherwise noted.

Which players should you be targeting and why?

Guards

Alondes Williams, Wake Forest ($8,500) - Williams is a high-usage player who rarely leaves the court. The emerging Wake Forest Demon Deacons star guard has logged 35-plus minutes in five out of the last six games. The senior ranks 40th nationally with a 30.8% usage rate. Further enhancing his appeal, Williams is grabbing 6.9 rebounds per game and dishing out 5.1 assists per game. The matchup with the Clemson Tigers is a decent spot for Williams. The Tigers rank 139th in defensive efficiency.

David Collins, Clemson ($6,200) - Collins could be in line for a massive role if PJ Hall is out against Wake Forest. Hall leads the Tigers in scoring (15.5 points per game) and ranks second in rebounding (5.7 rebounds per game). Collins would receive a healthy usage bump (Hall leads Clemson in usage rate) and would have little competition collecting rebounds. Collins already leads the Tigers with 7.0 rebounds per game. To sum it up, Collins is under-salaried for his near alpha role if Hall can't play.

Taz Sherman, West Virginia ($6,000) - Sherman is averaging 0.78 FanDuel points per minute. At that production level, he should pay off his salary in 30.7 minutes of action (assuming value is 4x of a player's salary). Sherman is averaging 33.7 minutes per game this season. The senior is averaging 20.6 real-life points over the last three games.

Reece Beekman, Virginia ($4,900) - Beekman is a low-usage player (16.5%) but remains relevant due to his ability to rack up stats in other areas. The sophomore leads the Virginia Cavaliers with 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He is also playing as many minutes as he can handle. The sophomore has logged 38 minutes in back-to-back games. Additionally, Beekman may be asked to be more aggressive scoring the ball if Armaan Franklin (Virginia's second-leading scorer) misses the game or is limited against the Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday night.

Caleb Houstan, Michigan ($4,700) - The five-star prospect has had an inconsistent freshman season for the Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines will need him to step up on both ends of the court with Moussa Diabate suspended. Houstan is a good bet to play 30-plus minutes. He should receive a nice usage bump with Diabate off the floor (Diabate's usage rate is 20.1%, which ranks third amongst the Wolverines rotation players).

Forwards

Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky ($8,800) - Tshiebwe is the odds-on favorite to win the National Player of the Year award. The Kentucky Wildcats star has been simply unstoppable this season. Tshiebwe is basically a lock to record a double-double (averages 16.4 points and 15.2 rebounds per game). He has topped 35 FanDuel points in an insane 10 consecutive games. Consequently, he will be one of the most popular players on the slate, and I will say that he is not an auto-play. The matchup with the Louisiana State Fighting Tigers is difficult. LSU ranks 3rd in defensive efficiency.

Walker Kessler ($8,600) and Hunter Dickinson ($8,400) make for interesting contrarian options in large-field tournaments. Kessler has a monster ceiling due to his ability to rack up blocks. Dickinson will be forced to play as much as possible with the Wolverines missing two frontcourt players on Wednesday night.

Paolo Banchero Duke ($7,900) - Banchero is priced under $8,000 for the first time in a while. The future NBA lotto pick leads the Duke Blue Devils with a 27.6% usage rate and a 21.6% defensive rebounding rate. He is also posting a 15.8% assist rate and a 2.9% block rate. The matchup with the Virginia Cavaliers may scare some of our opponents from rostering Banchero. The Virginia Cavaliers love to slow the game down (357th in adjusted tempo). Additionally, they've typically owned one of the nation's top defenses. However, that is not the case this season as Virginia checks in at 79th in defensive efficiency. Banchero is an intriguing play and could be less popular than normal.

Jack Nunge, Xavier ($6,800) - Nunge can rack up fantasy points in a hurry due to his ability to contribute on both ends of the court. The Xavier Musketeers center is averaging 1.03 FanDuel points per minute. At that production level, Nunge should pay off his salary in 26.4 minutes of action. The Musketeers big man has logged 32-plus minutes in five straight games.

Timmy Allen, Texas ($5,100) - The game logs have been ugly lately for Allen. The senior has only logged 43 minutes over the last two games due to foul trouble. That might help the forward fly under the radar on Wednesday night. Allen is under-salaried considering his seasonal rates. He is second amongst the Texas Longhorns in usage rate (24.0%) and offensive rebounding rate (10.7%). He is also posting an impressive assist rate (15.8%), defensive rebounding rate (17.4%), and steal rate (2.7%).

Naz Bohannon, Clemson ($4,400) - Bohannon has logged at least 30 minutes in three straight games. That is up significantly from his seasonal average of 21.2 minutes per game. Further enhancing Bohannon's appeal is that Clemson's best player, PJ Hall, is a game-time decision for Wednesday's game. If Hall sits, that'd open up a ton of usage and rebounding opportunity for the rest of the Tigers. Hall has a 28.5% usage rate and a 17.3% defensive rebounding rate. Over the last three games, Bohannon is averaging 9.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. His salary hasn't caught up to his expanding role.

Ian Schieffelin ($3,600) and Brandon Johns Jr. ($3,100) are two other salary relief options at forward. Johns Jr. could start with Moussa Diabate and Terrance Williams suspended. Schieffelin's role for Clemson would be secure if PJ Hall can't play on Wednesday night.

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.