Draftkings NCAA Basketball Picks: Illinois vs. Kentucky 3/23/25
Draftkings picks for this afternoon's Illinois vs. Kentucky matchup.
Illinois vs. Kentucky
March 23, 2025 5:15 pm EDT
Later today, the NCAA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Kentucky Wildcats. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.
Before we dive into the Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Kentucky Wildcats 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 today’s Illinois vs. Kentucky matchup.
Draftkings College Basketball Showdown Picks
Captain-Otega Oweh, Guard, Kentucky Wildcats $11,000
Talented guard Otega Oweh has been the driving force behind the Kentucky Wildcats success on the basketball court this season. Having stated that, how has Oweh performed from a statistical standpoint? Let’s examine Oweh’s game data from this season to answer that question.
In the 34 games that guard Otega Oweh has played for the Kentucky Wildcats this season, Oweh is averaging 16.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.5 blocks a game.
Looking closer at the data just presented, in the 34 games that Otega Oweh has played for the Kentucky Wildcats this season, Oweh has compiled a 49.4% field goal percentage, a 36.5% three-point percentage and a 78.1% free throw percentage.
More recently, in the Kentucky Wildcats convincing 76-57 win over the Troy Trojans two days ago, Wildcats guard Otega Oweh played exceptionally well. More specifically, Oweh amassed 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals in the Kentucky Wildcats victory over the Troy Trojans.
Examining the data just presented more closely, in the Kentucky Wildcats 76-57 win over the Trojans just mentioned, Otega Oweh accumulated a robust 42 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, Otega Oweh is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NCAA regular season game. With that said, I am backing Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NCAA Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Amari Williams, Forward, Kentucky Wildcats $10,200
In addition to guard Otega Oweh, forward Amari Williams has been a key contributor to the Kentucky Wildcats achievements this season.
In the 34 games that Amari Williams has played for the Kentucky Wildcats this season, Williams is averaging a rather impressive 29.1 Draftkings points a game.
In conclusion, I fully expect Amari Williams to continue his quality play in this afternoon’s NCAA tournament game.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well in this game (Draftkings price noted): Kasparas Jakucionis, Guard (Illinios Fighting Illini) $9,400: Will Riley, Forward (Illinois Fighting Illini) $9,200.
