Draftkings NCAA Basketball Picks: Michigan State vs. Illinois 2/15/25
Draftkings picks for tomorrow night's Michigan State vs. Illinois matchup.
Michigan State vs. Illinois
February 15, 2025 8:00 pm EDT
The NCAA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Michigan State Spartans and the Illinois Fighting Illini. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Michigan State Spartans vs. Illinois Fighting Illini 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 this tomorrow night’s Michigan State vs. Illinois matchup.
Draftkings NCAA College Basketball Picks
Captain-Jaden Akins, Guard, Michigan State Spartans $7,600
Senior guard Jaden Akins has certainly been a solid player for the Michigan State Spartans this season. Having stated that, how has the talented guard performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Jaden Akins game data from the 2024 NCAA regular season to answer that question.
In the 24 games that guard Jaden Akins has played for the Michigan State Spartans in the 2024 NCAA regular season, Akins is averaging 13.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.4 blocks a game.
Looking closer at the data just presented, in the 24 games that Jaden Akins has played for the Michigan State Spartans this season, Akins has compiled a 42.3% field goal percentage, a 29.3% three-point percentage and a 85.7% free throw percentage.
More recently, in the UCLA Bruins 63-61 victory over the Michigan State Spartans ten days ago, Michigan State guard Jaden Akins played exceptionally well. More specifically, Akins tallied 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal in the UCLA Bruins win over the Michigan State Spartans.
As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings NCAA DFS 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 opinion, Jaden Akins is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in today’s NCAA regular season game. Having stated that, I am backing Michigan State senior guard Jaden Akins at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NCAA Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Will Riley, Forward, Illinois Fighting Illini $9,600
Illinois forward Will Riley has been a key contributor to the Fighting Illini’s overall team achievements this season. In the 25 games that forward Will Riley has played for the Illinois Fighting Illini in the 2024 NCAA regular season, Rice is averaging a robust 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2 assists and 0.3 blocks a game.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well in this game (Draftkings price noted): Kasparas Jakucionis, Guard (Illinois) $11,400: Morez Johnson Jr., Forward (Illinois) $7,400: Jaxson Kohler, Forward (Michigan State) $6,800.
