Draftkings NCAA Basketball Picks: Houston vs. Duke 4/5/25
Houston Cougars vs. Duke Blue Devils
April 5, 2025 9:09 pm EDT
This Saturday afternoon, the NCAA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a Final Four matchup featuring the Houston Cougars and the Duke Blue Devils. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Houston Cougars vs. Duke Blue Devils game let’s review the rules for the 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 this week’s Houston vs. Duke matchup.
Draftkings NCAA Basketball Showdown Picks
Captain-Cooper Flagg, Guard, Duke Blue Devils $12,400
Freshman guard Cooper Flagg has quickly established himself as one of the best college basketball players in the nation. Having stated that, how has the talented Blue Devils guard performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Flagg’s relevant game data from the 2024 NCAA season (including postseason games) to answer that question.
In the 36 games that guard Cooper Flagg has played for the Duke Blue Devils this season, Flagg is averaging a robust 19 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks a game.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the 36 games that Cooper Flagg has played for the Duke Blue Devils this season, Flagg has compiled 48.7% field goal percentage, a 37.2% three-point percentage and an 83.2% free throw percentage.
Last week, in the Duke Blue Devils convincing 85-65 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide, Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg played exceptionally well. Flagg accumulated 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one block in the Duke Blue Devils victory over the Crimson Tide.
Examining the data just presented more closely, in Duke’s win over the Alabama Crimson Tide, Cooper Flagg amassed 32.5 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.
In my view, Cooper Flagg is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NCAA tournament 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
Kon Knueppel, Forward, Duke Blue Devils $10,200
In addition to guard Cooper Flagg, forward Kon Knueppel has been a key contributor to the Duke Blue Devils team achievements this season.
In the 38 games that Kon Knueppel has played for the Duke Blue Devils in the 2024 NCAA regular season, Knueppel is averaging 26.2 Draftkings points a game.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well in this game (Draftkings price noted): L.J. Cryer, Guard (Houston Cougars) $9,600: Milos Uzan, Guard (Houston Cougars) $8,400: Sion James, Guard (Duke) $5,200.
