Draftkings NCAA Basketball Picks: North Carolina State vs. Virgina 12/31/24

The NCAA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the North Carolina State Wolfpack and the Virginia Cavaliers. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the North Carolina State Wolfpack vs. Virgina Cavaliers 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 tomorrow afternoon’s North Carolina State vs. Virgina Cavaliers matchup.

Draftkings NCAA College Basketball Showdown Picks

Captain-Elijah Saunders, Forward, Virgina Cavaliers $8,000

Talented forward Elijah Saunders has quickly established himself as one of the best players on the Virgina Cavaliers roster this season. With that said, how has Saunders performed from a statistical perspective in 2024? Let’s review Saunders game data from the 2024 NCAA regular season to answer that question.

In the 12 games that guard Elijah Saunders has played for the Virgina Cavaliers in the 2024 NCAA regular season, Saunders is averaging 11.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.1 assists a game.

Looking closer ay the data just presented, in the 12 games that Elijah Saunders has played for the Virginia Cavaliers this season, Saunders has compiled a field goal percentage of 45.7%, a three-point percentage of 38.7%, and a free throw percentage of 87.5%.

More recently, in the Virigina Cavaliers 63-58 win over the American University Eagles, Elijah Saunders certainly played at a high level. Let me be more specific. Saunders tallied a massive 21 points, eight rebounds and two assists in the Virginia Cavaliers victory over the American University Eagles.

Examining the data just presented more closely, in the Cavaliers win over the Eagles, Elijah Saunders accumulated a robust 33 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, Elijah Saunders is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in tomorrow afternoon’s NCAA regular season game. Having stated that, I am rolling with Virginia Cavaliers forward Elijah Saunders at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NCAA Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Jacob Cofie, Forward, Virginia Cavaliers $9,000

In addition to forward Elijah Saunders, forward Jacob Cofie has been a key contributor to the Virginia Cavaliers lineup this season.

In the ten games that Jacob Cofie has played for the Virginia Cavaliers in the 2024 NCAA regular season, Jacob Cofie is averaging a respectable 20.1 Draftkings points a game.

Additional flex plays I like to perform well in this game (Draftkings price noted): Marcus Hill, Guard (North Carolina State) $9,200: Ben Middlebrooks, Forward (North Carolina State) $8,400.