Draftkings NCAA Basketball Picks: Ohio State vs. UCLA 2/23/25
Draftkings picks for this afternoon's Ohio State vs. UCLA matchup.
Ohio State Buckeyes vs. UCLA Bruins
February 22, 2025 3:45 pm EDT
Later today, the NCAA presents Draftkings basketball fans with a regular season matchup featuring the UCLA Bruins and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the UCLA Bruins vs. Ohio State Buckeyes 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 afternoon’s Ohio State vs. UCLA matchup.
Draftkings NCAA College Basketball Showdown Picks
Captain-Bruce Thornton, Guard, Ohio State $10,800
Talented guard Bruce Thornton has certainly been an essential part of the Ohio State Buckeyes starting lineup this season. With that said, how has the junior guard played from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Thornton’s game data from the 2024 NCAA regular season to answer that question.
In the 27 games that Bruce Thornton has played for the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2024 NCAA regular season, Thornton is averaging a robust 17.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals a game.
Looking closer at the data just presented, in the 27 games that Bruce Thornton has played for the Ohio State Buckeyes this season, Thornton has compiled a 51.4% field goal percentage, a 45.8 three-point percentage and an 82.9% free throw percentage.
Last week, in the Michigan Wolverines 86-83 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes, junior guard Bruce Thornton played at a high level. More specifically, Thornton accumulated 17 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals in the Michigan Wolverines victory over Ohio State.
Examining the data just presented more closely, in the Wolverines win over the Buckeyes just mentioned, Bruce Thornton amassed a rather impressive 36.8 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, Bruce Thornton is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NCAA regular season game. Having stated that, I am backing Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NCAA Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Tyler Bilodeau, Forward, UCLA Bruins $8,800
Forward Tyler Bilodeau has certainly been a key contributor to the Ohio State offense this season. In the 26 games that Bilodeau has played for the UCLA Bruins this season, Bilodeau is averaging 14.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.4 blocks a game.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well in this game (Draftkings price noted): Kobe Johnson, Guard (UCLA) $8,400: Micah Parrish, Guard (Ohio State) $9,600.
