College basketball season is in full swing and DraftKings and FanDuel continue to provide sizable contests for CBB DFS grinders. Examining the college basketball DFS slate for Feb. 2, a number of core plays stand out. This piece will locate the plays from each college basketball matchup and determine the top CBB DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel lineups.
If you’re looking to take your game to the next level, be sure to check out our daily CBB projections and Matt Gajewski’s daily college basketball breakdown over at the Awesemo College Basketball page.
CBB DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Fantasy Basketball
Studs
Jaylin Williams ($8,600) — Arkansas paces the slate with an 81.5-point implied team total as a 10-point favorite over Georgia in a game with a 153-point total. Recently narrowing their rotation, Jaylin Williams has played 36, 36 and 42 minutes in three straight games for Arkansas. His usage rate has drastically increased since his slow start to the year. In Arkansas’ last three games, Williams accounts for a 20% shot rate, 32.4% rebound rate and 16.3% assist rate. With a better game environment than Oscar Tshiebwe, Johnny Davis, and Kofi Cockburn and a cheaper price, Williams presents a strong pivot off the other elite big men. While Williams looks like the top play overall, J.D. Notae and Au’Diese Toney are excellent plays.
Dereon Seabron ($8,400) — The best overall game environment on the slate, North Carolina State is a 2-point favorite over Syracuse in a contest with a 152-point total. Both teams rank outside the top 275 in defensive efficiency, but North Carolina State has a clear usage leader in Dereon Seabron. Seabron is a little riskier than normal coming off his worst performance of the season, scoring 2 points and playing 23 minutes. However, Seabron typically plays every minute for North Carolina State and dominates usage at 17.8%. On the year, he has a 20.8% shot rate, 24.8% rebound rate and 28.8% assist rate. Now priced down, he is an excellent buy low. For those scared by the poor performance in North Carolina State’s most recent game, Terquavion Smith is also a strong play at $7,600.
Kameron McGusty ($8,100) — Another strong game environment on tonight’s slate, Miami sits as a 5-point favorite over Notre Dame in a game with a 143.5-point total. Miami lives through their guard play and should find plenty of success here against Notre Dame’s 236th ranked 3-point defense. On the year, McGusty shoots 36% from 3, which directly exploits this matchup. Playing nearly every minute, McGusty also provides upside across statistical categories. Even with Isaiah Wong and Charlie Moore playing a major role, McGusty stands out for his consistency.
Paul Scruggs ($7,400) –Xavier enters this slate with a 71.5-point implied team total as a 12-point favorite over Butler in a game with a 131-point total. Rivaling some of the better team totals on the board, Xavier’s studs Paul Scruggs and Colby Jones are underpriced for this game environment. Scruggs continues to play nearly every minute behind his 17.7% usage rate. In Xavier’s last three, he contributed a 19.9% shot rate. 14.8% rebound rate and 30.4% assist rate. With the entire offense flowing through Scruggs right now, he provides more security than Jones, who plays more in the peripheral stat categories.
Mid-Range
Markquis Nowell ($6,600) — A poor game environment overall, Kansas State is a 1.5-point favorite over Oklahoma State in a game with a 130.5-point total. Despite this, Kansas State still has some value with Selton Miguel ruled out. Consolidating their minutes, Markquis Nowell has now played 32, 30 and 34 minutes in three straight games for Kansas State, maximizing his 20.5% usage rate. In total, he has accounted for 19.8% of the team’s shots and 40% of the assists in his last three games. With Miguel vacating a 13.8% usage rate himself, Nowell’s usage could theoretically rise. Positively, he is not as expensive as Nijel Pack and Mark Smith either, but brings similar usage.
Cole Swider ($6,400) — On the other side of the North Carolina State game, Syracuse still has a 75-point implied team total as a 2-point underdog to the Wolfpack. Syracuse runs one of the tightest rotations in the country and now has three starters priced below $7,000 in Jimmy Boeheim, Joseph Girard and Cole Swider. Between the three, Swider has the best chance of hitting a ceiling game through his double-double equity. Swider has played 33, 35 and 26 minutes in three straight games, contributing an 18% shot rate and 16.3% rebound rate. Jimmy’s shot rate has declined to 13.4% and Girard is primarily a perimeter play. All three are solid options here with a slight lean towards Swider.
Swider’s matchup has him setup for a solid performance tonight, which was being recognized by our College Basketball DFS projections and lineup optimizer when running optimal lineups. Check out all of our free CBB DFS picks today in our DraftKings CBB fantasy cheat sheet and FanDuel CBB fantasy cheat sheet today.
Bo Hodges ($6,000) — After starting the year injured, Bo Hodges has worked his way back into a sizeable role for Butler. The Bulldogs enter this slate as 12-point underdogs to Xavier in a game with a 131-point total. However, Hodges’ involvement has been too strong to ignore. Hodges has played 35, 28 and 34 minutes in Butler’s last three games, contributing a 17.3% shot rate and 22% rebound rate. Prior to his 5-point outing in their most recent game, Hodges had scored 17 and 18 points. Despite the poor game environment, Hodges’ offensive role keeps him in play here.
Keion Brooks ($5,300) — Tshiebwe is very expensive in the context of this slate. However, his counterpart in the paint, Keion Brooks brings an affordable $5,300 price tag. Brooks is less involved playing 29, 30 and 23 minutes over Kentucky’s last three games. However, he still brings a 16.6% usage rate, which has risen sharply in recent games. Over Kentucky’s last three, Brooks contributes a 17.8% shot rate and 16.5% rebound rate. With Vanderbilt ranking 219th in interior defense, Kentucky’s frontcourt sets up nicely here. Kentucky is a 15-point favorite in a game with a 140.5-point total also putting TyTy Washington, Kellan Grady and Sahvir Wheeler into play. The only risk here is limited minutes in a blowout.
Value Plays
Trey Wade ($4,200) — While Arkansas has rotated their backcourt, their frontcourt has been consistent with Williams and Trey Wade. Unlike Williams, Wade is seldom involved with his 7.7% usage rate. However, Wade has played 38, 40 and 34 minutes in Arkansas’ last three games. Still taking just 6.1% of the shots, 7.6% of the rebounds and 14% of the assists, Wade is a punt play attached to the best offense on tonight’s slate.
Mike McGuirl ($3,900) — Kansas State is looking at a condensed rotation, following an injury to Miguel. One of the primary beneficiaries looks like Mike McGuirl. McGuirl has played a rotation role this year, but his minutes have spiked to 29 and 27 in Kansas State’s most recent games without Miguel. In their last three he has contributed a 10.4% shot rate, 9.6% rebound rate and 11.4% assist rate for the Wildcats. Miguel played in two of those games, so McGuirl could see an additional spike in usage here. Among the punts, he has the strongest usage.
Luke Loewe ($3,800) — Minnesota is an 11-point underdog to Purdue in a game with a 141.5-point total. While Purdue should dominate the Gophers at every point in this game, Minnesota has a potential value play in Luke Loewe. Loewe has a poor 11.3% usage rate, but he has played 35, 28 and 40 minutes in three straight games for Minnesota. If he can perform even slightly above average, the salary relief he provides could be useful in tournaments.
Rodney Howard ($3,600) — Georgia Tech is a 10-point favorite to Virginia Tech in a game with a 133.5-point total. Georgia Tech is a team to avoid for the most part, outside of Rodney Howard in GPPs. Howard has upside to reach 30 minutes without foul trouble. However, he fouls at one of the higher frequencies in the country and could just as easily score single digit fantasy points.
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