THE SLATE
12p- Penn State @ Ohio State (-9.5) 136.5 O/U
12p- Butler @ Villanova (-15.0) 123.5 O/U
1p- Cincinnati @ Wichita State (-1.5) 133.5 O/U
2p- Iowa @ Minnesota (-5.5) 152.5 O/U
3p- Louisiana Tech (-13.0) @ Southern Mississippi 139.5 O/U DK Only
4:30p- Georgetown @ St. John’s (-10.5) 160.5 O/U
TOP TEAM IMPLIED SCORES
St. John’s 85.50
Iowa 79.00
Louisiana Tech 76.25
Georgetown 75.00
Minnesota 73.50
Ohio State 73.00
TOP GUARDS
Payton Willis (Minnesota) Opp IOWA ($8K DK/7.4K FD)
The College of Charleston transfer has been arguably their go-to player in some of their biggest wins during the non-conference season. The co-captain is averaging 13.2 points on 37% shooting from the field in Big Ten play and is coming off two solid games against Michigan State and Indiana where he put up over 30 DKFP. Willis gets a pace up game today against Iowa in the second highest game total on the slate.
Aminu Mohammed G/F (Georgetown) Opp @STJN ($7.7K DK/7.5K FD)
The freshman, Georgetown’s leading scorer, is coming off his worst game of his collegiate career to date. Butler focused on not giving Mohammed any easy looks driving to the hoop and it worked as he went 2-16. Expect a bounce back game today as Georgetown will be locked in the highest scoring game of the day at St. John’s. Mohammed carries team leading identical usage (26.1%) and shot rates (26.1%) plus an 18% defensive rebounding rate and could very well find himself with one of the highest fantasy scores of the slate today.
Dylan Addae-Wusu (St. John’s) Opp GU ($6.1K DK/7.2K FD)
Addae-Wusu has become a key part of the fourth ranked adjusted tempo offense in the nation (74.3%). He is playing 30 minutes plus and has 30 DKFP games in two of his last three with both of those games establishing personal career highs in scoring. As the #3 assist man in the Big East (5.3 apg and 26.1%) Addae-Wusu will be busy today at home against the 23rd ranked adjusted tempo offense of Georgetown.
Other Top Guards
Julian Champagnie G/F (STJN) $9.8K DK/8.5K FD
Posh Alexander (STJN) $8.1K DK/7.9K FD
Collin Gillespie (VU) $7.8K DK/7.1K FD
Tyson Etienne (WICH) $5.6K DK/5.6K FD
TOP VALUE GUARDS
Ricky Council IV G/F (Wichita State) Opp CINCY ($5.6K DK/5.2K FD)
Council IV is one of those ultra-athletic shooting guards that can be a highlight reel dunker attacking the rim and also bang from long range. Coming off his best game in over a month against Tulane on Wednesday night where he played 33 minutes scoring 11 points and pulling down 15 boards. Cincy will be bringing in a tight defense to Koch Arena but Council, who comes into the game with usage and shot rates at 22% and a 23% defensive rebounding rate, should make value.
Tyler Beard (Georgetown) Opp STJN ($3.9K DK/5.5K FD)
If Dante Harris and/or Donald Carey are out again today (Covid), Beard will enter the slate as the top value guard to target. He came into Thursday’s game against Butler only averaging 4.2 points on the season but picked up a lot of the slack from the missing starters and scored 15 points to go along with a stat sheet stuffing four rebounds and five assists on 35 minutes of play. He will also get quite a bump in tempo going from the #348th ranked Butler adjusted tempo offense to facing the 4th ranked St. John’s squad.
Other Top Value Guards:
Qua Grant (WICH) $3.4K DK/5.3K FD
Aaron Wheeler G/F (STJN) $3.7K DK/5.3K FD
Kaden Rice G/F (GU) $5.0K DK/4.4K FD
Kris Murray G/F (IOWA) $5.4K DK/6.9K FD
TOP FORWARDS
Keegan Murray (Iowa) Opp @MINN ($9.6K DK/8.4K FD)
Murray, the nation's leading scorers, had his worst game of the season against Indiana on Thursday night. He was hamstrung with fouls all night and ended up with a season low 12 points and only 28 DKFP. I wouldn’t expect another performance like that since Murray is rarely in foul trouble and should be right back to 45-50 fantasy points tonight (44.98 DKFP average). Minnesota will not be able to contain a player with elite rates such as 29.4 usage, 33.1% shot, 30.7% rebounding, 8.0% block and 2.8% steal.
Julian Champagnie G/F (St. Johns) Opp GU ($9.8K DK/8.5K FD)
The forward position is loaded today and besides Murray you will probably only be able to get one more of these studs in your lineup. Tough decision when you have the likes of EJ Lidell (Ohio State), Kenneth Lofton Jr (Louisiana Tech) and Champagnie to choose from. The edge goes to Champagnie due to game environment as two extremely up-tempo teams face off (#4 St. Johns/#23 Georgetown). Since returning from a near month long Covid layoff, Champagnie has put up 60, 25 and 40 DKFP games. He is first in the Big East in scoring (24.0) and minutes played (39.0) fourth in rebounds (9.3) and scored in double figures in 44 straight games, including 23 outings with at least 20 points.
Jamison Battle (Minnesota) Opp IOWA ($7.7K DK/7.6K FD)
Battle is one of the top transfers in the country (George Washington) and is now scorching nets in the Big Ten. He is sixth in scoring in the Big Ten only behind stars Murray, Johnny Davis, Liddell, Kofi Cockburn, and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Pretty good company. His 17.9 average is the highest of any player that transferred up to a power conference and he has five 20-point performances, including a season best 27 points in a win against Michigan. He will be asked to have another big game again as he goes up against Keegan Murray, the nation’s top scorer, as well as picking up more slack from the injury to captain Eric Curry.
Other Top Forwards:
EJ Lidell (OSU) $9.2K DK/8.2K FD
Kenneth Lofton Jr (LT) $9.0K DK
Tyler Stevenson (USM) $7.8K DK
TOP VALUE FORWARDS
Craig Porter Jr G/F (Wichita State) Opp CINCY ($3.9K DK/5.5K FD)
Wichita State lost a heartbreaker to Tulane on Wednesday night but at least one positive came from the defeat- the play of junior point guard Porter, who played the best game of his two-year WSU career. He had a career high 18 points, nine rebounds and four steals to go along with a team high four assists in 33 minutes. WSU is desperate for scoring, especially with Dexter Dennis and Morris Udeze out with Covid, and Porter has stepped up. Look for another 30+ minutes from Porter today especially if more starters are held out.
Aaron Wheeler G/F (St. Johns) Opp GU ($3.7K DK/5.3K FD)
Wheeler is coming off two straight solid offensive performances. Against Providence he put up 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks (23 DKFP) and on Wednesday against UCONN he put up another 10 points with seven boards and two blocks (25 DKFP). The problem is that in both games he fouled out late and was overmatched defending a dominant big man. If he can stay on the court today in this high tempo matchup with Georgetown Wheeler has a very chance of hitting7X-8X value.
Other Value Forwards:
Kaden Rice G/F (GU) $5.0K DK/4.4K FD
Kris Murray G/F (IOWA) $5.4K DK/6.9K FD
Ryan Mutombo (GU) $3.5K DK/5.2K FD
DRAFTKINGS CORE
Keegan Murray (Iowa)
Tyler Beard (Georgetown) *pending news
Aminu Mohammed (Georgetown)
FANDUEL CORE
Julian Champagnie (St. Johns)
Payton Willis (Minnesota)
Aminu Mohammed (Georgetown)