Draftkings NCAA Basketball Picks: Duke vs. Virginia 2/17/25
Draftkings picks for tonight's Duke vs. Virginia matchup.
Duke vs. Virginia
February 17, 2025 8:00 pm EDT
Later today, the NCAA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Virginia Cavaliers and the Duke Blue Devils. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Virginia Cavaliers vs. Duke Blue Devils game let’s review the rules for Draftkings single game showdown contest.
Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules
You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.
The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.
If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.
*I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.
Here are my Draftkings picks for tonight’s Duke vs. Virginia matchup.
Draftkings NCAA College Basketball Showdown Picks
Captain-Cooper Flagg, Guard, Duke Blue Devils $12,600
Freshman guard Cooper Flagg has been a standout performer for the Duke Blue Devils this season. With that said, how has the freshman Duke guard performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Flagg’s game data from the 2024 NCAA regular season to answer that question.
In the 25 games that guard Cooper Flagg has played for the Duke Blue Devils in the 2024 NCAA regular season, Flagg is averaging a robust 19.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks a game.
Examining the data just presented more closely, in the 25 games that freshman guard Cooper Flagg has played for the Duke Blue Devils this season, Flagg has compiled a 48.5% field goal percentage, a 37.8% three-point percentage and an 81.6% free throw percentage.
Earlier this month, in the Duke Blue Devils 87-70 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels four days ago, Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. Flagg amassed 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and three steals in the Duke Blue Devils victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Duke Blue Devils win over the University of North Carolina just mentioned, Cooper Flagg tallied a rather impressive 51.5 Draftkings points.
As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings NCAA showdown lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DFS contest. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups for this one game Draftkings slate.
In my view, Duke Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NCAA regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing Duke Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NCAA Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Tyrese Proctor, Guard, Duke Blue Devils $9,000
In addition to guard Cooper Flagg, guard Tyrese Proctor has been a key contributor to the Duke Blue Devils achievements this season.
In the 25 games that Tyrese Proctor has played for the Duke Blue Devils in the 2024 NCAA regular season, Proctor is averaging 22.1 Draftkings points a game.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well in this game (Draftkings price noted): Isaac McKneely, Guard (Viriginia Cavaliers) $10,400: Elijah Saunders, Forward (Virginia Cavaliers) $6,800.
