THE SLATE:
(w/ Implied Team & Game Totals via KenPom)
7 pm ET -- Syracuse (61) at Virginia (68) -- 129 total
9 pm ET -- Texas Tech (66) at West Virginia (68) -- 134 total
9 pm ET -- Oklahoma State (75) at Iowa State (71) -- 146 total
11 pm ET -- Arizona State (75) at Arizona (82) -- 159 total
Top Guards
| Top Guards | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| James Akinjo | AZ | ASU | 8200 | 28.39 | 7100 | 26.15 | |
| Arizona’s point guard gets a rematch against uptempo ASU after just facing his rivals last Thursday. In that one, Akinjo scored 24 points en route to 33 DK points and it’s hard to expect something similar tonight. While going 5-for-9 from three-point range will be hard to replicate, the high usage rate and offensive involvement is what we like for Akinjo with the pace-boost as well. He’s taken on more responsibility for Zona's offense with Jemarl Baker out for the year - with 36 and 33 DK points in the two games without Baker - and should have the ball in his hands a bunch tonight. The DK salary is good for all formats and he’s way underpriced on FD. | |||||||
| Miles McBride | WV | TT | 7800 | 29.93 | 7200 | 28.08 | |
| Much of West Virginia’s rotation is tough to trust game-to-game for DFS, but McBride is pretty consistent and he’s the one to target if you’re paying up on either side of this matchup vs. Texas Tech. McBride provides a great statistical floor with his production across the board and he’s put up 30+ DK points in three of the last four games and in six of the last eight. His 50% three-point shooting during conference play gives him a much higher ceiling than normal tonight since Tech is the Big 12’s worst at defending the three. McBride should have the ball in his hands a lot in what should be a one-possession game throughout - and that will undoubtedly keep his floor high enough to trust. | |||||||
| Remy Martin | ASU | AZ | 7500 | 28.44 | 7300 | 26.59 | |
| Martin is starting to look like his old self again since returning for Arizona State last week following his two missed games. He had 28 DK points in his first game back and then a stat-stuffing 32 DK points last Thursday vs. this same Arizona team. ASU also has Josh Christopher and Alonzo Verge in the talented backcourt, but Martin is definitely the alpha DFS option when he’s fully engaged. He’s now appropriately priced on both sites and good for all formats in what is the highest-paced game of the night. | |||||||
| Isaac Likekele | OKST | ISU | 7400 | 28.21 | 6600 | 26.48 | |
| The biggest player status to track on tonight’s slate is whether or not Cade Cunningham will play. Although he was cleared to play, the OK State stud sat out on Saturday while apparently recovering from COVID and/or the recent long layoff. The coach is calling him “50/50 at best” to play tonight - so it’s something we won’t know until warmups or starting lineups (unless something breaks beforehand). If Cunningham is indeed out again, expect Likekele to take on a much bigger offensive role than his already heavy usage. On Saturday, he put up 26 DK points despite only going 1-for-8 from the field and scoring nine points - because of his safe floor. He should play much better since that last outing was against Baylor’s top defense - and the matchup vs. Iowa State tonight isn’t scary at all. | |||||||
Value Guards
| Value Guards | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| Terrell Brown Jr. | AZ | ASU | 5600 | 19.39 | 5600 | 18.62 | |
| Brown has moved into Arizona’s starting shooting guard spot with Jemarl Baker out for the year - and this might be the cheapest we get him at the rest of season. Brown only had 13.5 DK points in his first start following Baker’s injury - but he went off for 33 DK points last time out with a stat-stuffing line of 14 points scored, six assists, five rebounds and two steals. In that second start - which came against tonight’s opponent of ASU - Brown was more active offensively and his expanded minutes helped him rack up plenty of ancillary stats. That’ll likely be the case moving forward and this uptempo matchup vs. ASU makes him a solid upside play. | |||||||
| Taz Sherman | WV | TT | 5500 | 17.45 | 5800 | 15.86 | |
| Sherman has been West Virginia’s key sixth-man all season as their three-and-D weapon who’s gotten it done on both ends. When he’s on the court during conference play, the senior leads the team in shot volume (29%) and is second in usage rate behind only big man Derek Culver and barely ahead of point guard Miles McBride. He’s also seen a notable increase in minutes and offensive role ever since Oscar Tshiebwe left the team at the end of December. In the four games since, Sherman has put up at least 20 DK points with double-digit points scored in each outing - and he’s shooting 12-for-29 from three-point range (41%) over those four games. That hot perimeter scoring will help be a great value once again vs. a Texas Tech team that struggles to defend the three. Plus, the Mountaineers even put him in the starting lineup last time out over Sean McNeil - a switch that makes him even more attractive from a DFS standpoint. | |||||||
| Bryce Williams | OKST | ISU | 5200 | 18.75 | 5900 | 17.18 | |
| Oklahoma State recently made changes to its starting lineup and Williams has benefited as a new starter in the backcourt. He’s put up 24 or more DK points in four of his five starts - and the only time he didn’t was a weird, dud outing when he played just six minutes. In the last two games since, though, he’s bounced back nicely with 29 and 26 DK points and DFS production in all stat areas while going 6-for-14 from three-point range. With Cade Cunningham and Rondel Walker possibly out, he’s even more important to OK State’s offense tonight. You can also look at Avery Anderson, who’s still pretty affordable on both sites. | |||||||
| Reece Beekman | UV | SYR | 5100 | 16.42 | 5700 | 15.57 | |
| Since the total and pace in Virginia-Syracuse are so much lower than the other three games tonight, it’s probably smart to generally stay away. A cheap option in this matchup, though, is Beekman - because it’ll be hard to completely avoid the game on such a small slate. UVA plays a very short rotation and Beekman is one of the starters who usually logs 30 minutes or so, which keeps his DFS floor pretty safe with plenty of ancillary stat production. The freshman isn’t heavily involved on offense by any means, but he does just enough across the board to return at least 20 DK points in four of the last five games. | |||||||
Other Guards to Consider:
Josh Christopher - Arizona State ($7,300 DK / $6,700 FD)
Kevin McCullar - Texas Tech ($7,000 DK / $7,000 FD)
Mac McClung - Texas Tech ($6,400 DK / $6,500 FD)
Kihei Clark - Virginia ($5,400 DK / $5,800 FD)
Avery Anderson III - Oklahoma State ($5,000 DK / $5,400 FD)
Tre Jackson - Iowa State ($4,100 DK / $3,700 FD)
Sean McNeil - West Virginia ($3,600 DK / $4,200 FD)
Top Forwards
| Top Forwards | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| Quincy Guerrier | SYR | UV | 8300 | 34.85 | 8100 | 33.04 | |
| The expensive tier of the forward position isn’t too great tonight, but Guerrier stands out as the best option with his consistent play lately. The sophomore power forward has at least 34 DK points in four straight games while averaging 20 PPG, 10+ rebounds and 3.3 blocks/steals. Even though this game will surely be the slowest-paced and lowest-scoring matchup of the slate, Guerrier could easily return DFS value because of his defensive stats and heavy minutes in ‘Cuse’s short rotation. Guerrier’s defensive rebounding ability also bodes well vs. a Virginia frontcourt that’s terrible on the offensive glass. You can also look at Alan Griffin from the Orange as another target in this game. | |||||||
| Derek Culver | WV | TT | 8000 | 31.89 | 7400 | 29.56 | |
| Everyone assumed Culver would become “the guy” down low for West Virginia following Oscar Tshiebwe’s mid-season transfer - and that’s mostly been the case. Tshiebwe’s absence has allowed Culver a lot more rebounding and scoring opportunities in the paint as the Mountaineers’ clear go-to in the post. He’s put up 50 and 41 DK points in two of the last four games without Tshiebwe and those performances featured some monster rebounding numbers of 19 and 16 boards, respectively. However, there’s some risk here because Culver also put up less than 20 DK points in the other two games recently - which would make him a lineup-killer on a short slate like tonight. All of that to say he’s a high-upside GPP play tonight against a good Texas Tech defense. | |||||||
| Jay Huff | UV | SYR | 6700 | 27.79 | 6900 | 26.25 | |
| Normally we would mostly ignore this game on bigger slates, but all the studs in Virginia/Syracuse are in play tonight with only four games to build lineups from. For the Cavaliers, the 7-foot-1 center has been their best player lately with team-leading usage and shot rates while draining 42% from three-point range during conference play. Huff’s ability to score inside and from the perimeter - combined with his elite shot-blocking and rebounding - gives him a great cash floor even in Virginia’s low total games. He’s put up 39, 31, 29 and 37 DK points over the last four games with plenty of stat production across the board in heavy minutes. His decreased salary compared to other riskier top-tier forwards might make him popular in cash tonight. | |||||||
| Azuolas Tubelis | AZ | ASU | 6500 | 22.02 | 6100 | 20.39 | |
| Last Thursday, Tubelis didn’t totally live up to expectations against Arizona State when he “only” had 22 DK points - his lowest DFS output in six games. Still, the upside is there for him to be much better tonight in the rematch. The freshman big man had increasingly become a bigger part of Zona’s offense before that last outing and he should return to double-digit shot attempts with 30+ DK point upside. His 6-foot-11 frame and rebounding skills give Tubelis an advantage as well since ASU is a bad rebounding team (second-worst in the Pac-12) and undersized in the frontcourt. | |||||||
Value Forwards
| Value Forwards | |||||||
| Player | Team | Opp. | DK $ | DK FPPG | FD $ | FD FPPG | |
| Jalen Graham | ASU | AZ | 5000 | 14.22 | 4500 | 13.51 | |
| After missing the last month with mono, Graham was back in action on Thursday and had a pretty productive outing. He put up 22.5 DK points with plenty of ancillary stats, including three blocked shots and two steals over 25 minutes. It’s notable that Graham logged as many minutes as he did in his first game back - despite coming off the bench. He was the regular starting center before being out and it’s reasonable to expect him back amongst the starters soon. His 25 minutes were more than starter fill-in Chris Osten’s 14 - and that’s likely the case again tonight even if Graham doesn’t start. He’s a cash play with a decent floor of ancillary stats. | |||||||
| Kalib Boone | OKST | ISU | 4800 | 15.81 | 4900 | 14.61 | |
| We have a couple situations to monitor with Oklahoma State tonight - and one or both could result in Kalib Boone being a solid cash value. On Saturday, both Cade Cunningham (COVID) and Rondel Walker (arm) were out and the short-handed Cowboys turned back to Kalib Boone in the starting lineup - where he was six times earlier in the season. With his teammates out, the sophomore big man put up 35 DK points with his 21 points scored and seven rebounds with season-high’s in shot attempts (15) and minutes (28). We might not know about Cunningham or Walker’s status until right before tip, but Boone could very well get another start and featured offensive role if they are out - especially Cunningham. You can also look at Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe at affordable salaries in all formats as he also benefited from his teammates’ absence. Both Boone and Moncrieffe have an advantage in the paint against Iowa State’s poor rebounding frontcourt. | |||||||
| Christian Koloko | AZ | ASU | 4600 | 14.54 | 4700 | 13.88 | |
| Koloko’s DFS value has gotten a lot better with Jemarl Baker out for the year and Arizona shuffling its starting lineup around. The 7-foot-1 center has started the last two games and will likely stay there with Jordan Brown coming off the bench. In the new starting role, Koloko has 27 and 17 DK points over these past two outings and his DFS production is much safer for cash games because of the increase in minutes and defensive stats. This matchup vs. ASU is particularly favorable because they are terrible at rebounding and get shots blocked at a high rate - both of Koloko’s strong points. He’s good for cash as long as he’s under 5k. | |||||||
| Jalen Bridges | WV | TT | 3700 | 7.4 | 3500 | 6.86 | |
| On this short slate, we’ll need to take more chances than usual to get different in GPP’s - and West Virginia has a few of those cheap darts. Bridges is one of them as he’s begun to see more playing time since Oscar Tshiebwe’s mid-season departure. The freshman has started the last four games after barely playing in the early part of the season - and he’s put up 30 and 20 DK points in two of those outings. Although he’s not heavily involved in the Mountaineers’ offense, he’s shot 7-for-11 (64%) from three-point range in these last four starts and has shown the potential to get hot from deep. There's a definite tournament upside with his three-point shooting against a Texas Tech defense that doesn’t defend the perimeter well at all. Bridges is way too cheap on both sides for that GPP value. You can also look at Emmitt Matthews, Sean McNeil or Gabe Osabuohien as cheap WVU plays in tournaments. | |||||||
Other Forwards to Consider:
Alan Griffin - Syracuse ($7,600 DK / $7,800 FD)
Bennedict Mathurin - Arizona ($6,900 DK / $5,900 FD)
Javan Johnson - Iowa State ($6,400 DK / $6,800 FD)
Solomon Young - Iowa State ($6,100 DK / $6,000 FD)
Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe - Oklahoma State ($4,300 DK / $4,700 FD)
Emmitt Matthews Jr. - West Virginia ($4,000 DK / $4,600 FD)