It’s a massive day of action in college basketball. Let’s take a look at some DFS angles to attack from a full slate of SEC hoops.
Saturday, Feb. 21 SEC DFS predictions
Below are 3 DFS picks from 3 of Saturday’s games in the SEC. All of them can be found inside one of the best apps for daily fantasy sports on the market — Underdog. New users can hit the banner below each player pick and our SDS sign-up bonus will be applied to your account.
Tennessee F Nate Ament higher than 19.5 points at Vanderbilt
After a lull that started in December and bled into the early days of January, Tennessee freshman Nate Ament has been a rapidly ascending player. In a Tennessee win over Texas on Jan. 6, he took just 4 shots and scored only 8 points. In the 5 games that followed, he averaged 21 points per game and exploded for a career-high 29 against Alabama. Over his last 6 games, his scoring has jumped again, this time up to 24.3 per game. He has hit 29 twice more, and dropped 28 on Ole Miss.
Ament is shooting more (16 attempts per game) over his last 6 and hitting nearly 40% of his triples (39.3%). He’s starting to draw Kevin Durant references over some of his go-to ways to score, with a 6-10 frame that just effortlessly rises over most defenders. Vanderbilt’s defense has been excellent in conference play, but we just need 20 from Ament to hit this number — something he has done in 5 of his last 6 — and Tennessee should lean on its star in an important road game.
Via Underdog
Arkansas G Darius Acuff Jr. higher than 2.5 made 3s vs. Mizzou
Is there a hotter player in college basketball right now than Darius Acuff Jr.? The freshman phenom is coming off a 49-point explosion in a double-OT game against Alabama, where he hit 6 of his 10 triples. In the game immediately before that, Acuff hit 7 of his 10 treys to score 31 points in a win over Auburn. Acuff doesn’t need the deep ball to light up the scoreboard — he had 28 with just 1 made 3 in a win over LSU on Feb. 10 — but he’s Arkansas’s best shooter nonetheless. Acuff is shooting 44.3% from 3 this season and has one of the SEC’s highest usage rates.
And he’ll face a Mizzou team on Saturday that bleeds triples to the opposition. Per KenPom, Mizzou ranks 307th nationally in 3-point shot defense and 333rd nationally in 3-point rate allowed. Teams get 44.9% of their shot attempts from beyond the arc and hit those looks at a 36.2% clip. High-usage guards have gotten theirs against the Tigers of late. Vandy’s Tyler Tanner scored 27, Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard scored 22, and Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr. had 18. How much does Acuff have left in the tank after playing 50 minutes? That’s a fair question, and a reason to look at his made 3s number instead of his point total.
Via Underdog
Auburn G Tahaad Pettiford higher than 8.5 first-half points vs. Kentucky
Since beating Tennessee, Kentucky has lost back-to-back games. Auburn has its own losing streak to deal with, but the Tigers do have the advantage of being the home team against a group of Wildcats that has struggled to consistently start games on the right foot. Georgia led Kentucky by 5 at the halftime break in the Wildcats’ most recent game. Florida led by 9. Tennessee led by 14 at the half. Vanderbilt had a 20-point halftime lead several weeks ago. With Auburn’s NCAA Tournament hopes almost hanging in the balance here, expect a ton of energy inside Neville Arena.
I think that’ll translate to some early points for guard Tahaad Pettiford, who has taken on a much larger scoring burden in recent games. Pettiford has at least 21 points in each of his last 4 games. In the 8 games prior, he averaged 10.5 shot attempts and 31% shooting. Over his last 4, his volume is up to 17.3 shots per contest with a 49.3% field goal clip. Pettiford has been much more aggressive. Auburn needs that to continue; it can’t really afford any more losses.
Via Underdog
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
