This article is part of our DFS College Basketball series.
On Friday night, the slate is rather short, but sweet. We'll focus on the Big Ten conference matchups between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers at 7 p.m. ET on Peacock, and the UCLA Bruins and Maryland Terrapins at 8 p.m. on FOX.
If you're unfamiliar how to play, you must simply choose at least two players from any sport and pick more or less on their projected statistics to win. We'll obviously be exclusively selecting college hoops players, but you can mix and match from various other sports. You can also go with a flex play, meaning you still can have a winning night even if you have one losing selection. Or, you can go big and choose the power play, which pays out higher. However, you must hit all ends to win. Let's get started.
Steven Crowl, F, Wisconsin
The Golden Gophers and Badgers meet at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. on Friday night in basketball's version of the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe.
Crowl has been killing it lately, and it's actually surprising to see his projections so low. Take advantage. If you want to keep it simple, he needs to get into double digits in points (More than 10) to cash, or you can go with the Pts+Rebs+Asts, which seems like an even better play.
The Golden Gophers are winless in four Big Ten games to date, and a big reason is a struggling perimeter defense. Minnesota allows just 66.7 PPG, while teams are hitting 42.7 percent from the field against it. However, the Gophers are allowing 33.4 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
Crowl has scored 14 or more points in each of the past four games, and that includes a double-double Monday at Rutgers when he had 18 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while hitting 8-of-11 from the field, and 2-of-3 from downtown. Keep rolling with the red-hot Crowl until he cools off.
CBB PrizePicks Selection: Steven Crowl, Over 18.5 Pts+Rebs+Asts
Dawson Garcia, F, Minnesota
The Golden Gophers haven't had a lot of success this season, but one of the bright spots has been Garcia. He leads the team with 18.2 PPG through 15 games, and he is just one of three Minnesota players averaging 10 or more points per outing.
Garcia is coming off a stinker last time out against Ohio State on Monday, hitting just 2-of-9 from the field while finishing with five points, six rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and a steal before fouling out in 29 minutes. He was so off against the Buckeyes that he even missed all three of his free-throw attempts.
Expect a bounce-back game from Garcia, as he had managed 18 or more points in his previous six games from Dec. 1-Jan. 2. We'll keep it simple and go 'More' on his point total.
CBB PrizePicks Selection: Dawson Garcia, Over 16.5 Points
Derik Queen, C, Maryland
The 6-foot-10 freshman from Baltimore has been strong for his home state team. He racked up 17 points with five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots in 34 minutes at Oregon last time out. Queen has posted three double-doubles in the past seven games, too, while averaging 16.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG and 2.0 APG so far this season.
While that's all well and good, UMD will have its hands full trying to solve the suffocating UCLA defense. The Bruins allow just 61.5 PPG, while teams are hitting just 41.0 percent from the field against UCLA.
Queen could struggle with his shot, and if he is held under his season average for points, he is going to go Under his projections. He has missed more field-goal attempts than he made in three of the past four games, and that doesn't figure to get better against UCLA.
CBB PrizePicks Selection: Derik Queen, Under 22.5 Pts+Rebs+Asts
Friday's College Basketball PrizePicks Selections
Here's a recap of my best college basketball selections for Friday:
- Steven Crowl, Wisconsin, Over 18.5 Pts+Rebs+Asts
- Dawson Garcia, Minnesota, Over 16.5 Points
- Derik Queen, Maryland, Under 22.5 Pts+Rebs+Asts
For additional recommendations for PrizePicks and other similar sites, check out our College Basketball Picks page.
For more fantasy college hoops content, be sure to check out features like our college basketball injury report, college basketball depth charts and latest college basketball news.
