College basketball season is finally upon us, and DraftKings and FanDuel continue to provide sizable contests for DFS grinders. Examining the slate for Jan. 28, a number of core plays stand out. In this piece I’ll be locating top plays from each college basketball matchup and determining the top CBB DFS picks for your DraftKings and FanDuel lineups.
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CBB DFS Picks: DraftKings + FanDuel Core Plays | Jan. 28
Studs Tier
Kendric Davis ($8,400) — Playing on a slate loaded with studs, Davis still stands out as the top overall projected play. Davis plays every minute for an SMU team favored by 3.5 points over Memphis. This game bring an above-average pace and a 142-point total overall. Davis has a 23.9% usage rate, including 21.7% of the team’s shots. After shooting 4-for-14 from the field in SMU’s most recent game, Davis looks like a strong buy-low in this spot.
Ron Harper ($8,000) — Despite some up-and-down play to begin the year, Harper posted a double-double in his most recent contest while scoring 18 points the game prior. Tonight, Harper draws a matchup against a Michigan State team that hasn’t played since early January after a COVID-19 stoppage. Harper leads Rutgers with a 21.3% usage rate while taking 21.8% of the team’s shots. Michigan State ranks 130th in defensive efficiency but struggles to defend the perimeter. Scoring in a variety of ways, Harper leads Rutgers in overall shots and 3-point shots in their last three games.
Azuolas Tubelis ($6,900) — Arizona already lost Jemarl Baker for the season, and Bennedict Mathurin suffered a sprained ankle earlier this week. While Mathurin is questionable, Tubelis may be asked to play an elevated role for Arizona’s offense. Already extremely involved, Tubelis has a 22.1% shot rate and 22.2% rebounding rate in Arizona’s last three games. He also has at least 28 minutes in each of these contests. With Arizona favored by 6 points over a banged-up Stanford team, look for Tubelis to get involved early for Arizona here.
Mid-Priced Tier
Alonzo Verge ($6,300) — Entering a contest against California, Arizona State has the highest implied team total on the slate. While Cal plays slow basketball, they also struggle on defense. Cal currently ranks 264th in defensive efficiency and 340th in 3-point defense. Marcus Bagley and Verge shoot the most 3-pointer, but Verge has the better usage between the two. Verge’s 19.4 usage rate, ranks slightly behind Josh Christopher (19.6%) and Remy Martin (20.3%). While both are solid plays themselves, Verge brings a price discount and attacks California’s main weakness on the perimeter. Targeting multiple Arizona State players makes sense, but Verge looks like a preferred play here for DraftKings.
Ochai Agbaji ($6,100) — A talented player seeing a drop in price, Agbaji stands out as a target for Kansas. Kansas has the second-highest implied team total on the slate as 14-point favorites over TCU. While the risk of blowout remains, Kansas should find way to take advantage of a TCU defense ranked 208th in defensive efficiency. Agbaji ranks second on the team with a 17.5% usage rate and continues to play 31+ minutes per game. Primarily a shooter, Agbaji has still scored at least 10 points in three straight games. With Marcus Garrett receiving a price bump, Agbaji looks like the preferred value play in Kansas offense at the moment.
Jaiden Delaire ($5,900) — Mentioned above, Stanford enters this contest against Arizona with a number of injuries and absences. Ziaire Williams, Daejon Davis and Bryce Wills did not make the trip for this game. With a thin roster, Delaire, Oscar Da Silva, Spencer Jones and Michael O’Connell should play every minute. Now elevated to a starting role, Delaire has at least 30 minutes in two straight games. Delaire has also taken on a role as one of Stanford’s primary shooters. He has at least 14 shots in back-to-back games, while getting his hands on 13% of Stanford’s rebounds and 17.7% of the assists. Despite coming in as underdogs, Stanford still provides enough value to target Delaire in this spot.
Value Tier
Spencer Jones ($4,900) — Playing in the same game, Jones also stands out as a supreme value play on the DraftKings main slate. Similar to Delaire, Jones stepped up to play 38 minutes without Williams, Davis, and Wills in Stanford’s last game. Primarily a peripheral player, Jones notched six boards, three steals, and 13 points in that contest. Without any depth here, Jones projects to play every minute once again. With Michael O’Connell ($4,800) also playing every minute, taking at least one Stanford value play opens up enough salary to play multiple studs on this slate for DraftKings.
Tyson Jolly ($4,800) — While Stanford’s value plays project to carry the most ownership, Jolly looks like an interesting pivot. Finally rejoining the team, Jolly played 19 and 21 minutes off the bench for SMU in their most recent games. Jolly posted 15 points and solid peripheral upside in his 21 minutes. Interestingly, Jolly also fouled out in that span, creating upside for future contests. Even if Jolly is SMU’s sixth man, he could receive even more opportunities moving forward. While Stanford provides the secure value, Jolly offers low-owned leverage at a similar price.
Caleb McConnell ($4,400) — Similar to Jolly, McConnell looks like a contrarian value play to consider today. Struggling throughout Big Ten play, Rutgers finally shook up their starting lineup. Moving Jacob Young and Montez Mathis to the bench, McConnell started and played 26 minutes for Rutgers in their most recent contest. McConnell scored seven points and notched four rebounds. However, his playing time stopped at 26 minutes after McConnell fouled out. While risky, McConnell could see 30-plus minutes in a full game for Rutgers. The Scarlett Knights use an eight-man rotation, so McConnell still carries risk. However, he offers leverage off the Stanford value and Ron Harper in the same game.
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