DFS picks: Best Big Ten plays for Saturday, March 1
Buckle up college basketball fans: March is finally here!
Okay, March Madness itself isn’t officially here, but you can already feel the tension and excitement building as evidenced by Tre Holloman’s midweek buzzer beater. That dramatic finish to Michigan State vs. Maryland tells you all you need to know about where we are on the calendar.
When action tips off on Saturday, March 1, we will officially be 8 days away from the final day of the regular season and just 15 days away from Selection Sunday. Postseason basketball is about to be upon us, and there is still plenty of elite DFS action and options to take part in.
Here are 3 DFS picks to grab as we brace for a full Saturday in the Big Ten:
Trey Galloway — Higher than 4.5 assists (Via Underdog)
Trey Galloway has blossomed into a nice facilitator for Indiana across the past 2 seasons, averaging over 4 assists per game each season. He’s averaging 4.4 across 2024-25, and Galloway has been especially good as Indiana tries to put together a late-season push into the NCAA Tournament.
Going back to Jan. 5, Galloway has just 3 total games with less than 5 assists, but he has been especially effective across the last 3. Since 2 total assists against Michigan and Michigan State, Galloway has averaged 8 per game in the 3 games since, including back-to-back games of 9 assists.
Indiana gets its West Coast trip started on Saturday but in a more manageable contest against Washington, a team that is 4-13 in Big Ten action this year. The Hoosiers are not going to try and reinvent the wheel in a game that should be viewed as a must-win, so expect Galloway to fill his traditional role and pile up plenty of assists along the way.
Derik Queen — Higher than 15.5 points (Via Underdog)
Derik Queen has been Maryland‘s leading scorer as a dynamic freshman all season long. Unfortunately, he had one of his worst shooting nights of the season (2-for-11 from the floor) in being held to 10 points in the wild buzzer-beating loss to Michigan State.
That game was particularly ugly for either team, but there is some reason to expect Queen to bounce back against Penn State, including the recent stretch he was on.
Prior to losing to the Spartans, Queen was averaging 21 points across a 4-game winning streak for the Terrapins. In that same stretch, he never shot worse than 55% from the field.
Penn State is also heading into this one with a 5-13 record in league play. Most recently, the Nittany Lions allowed Indiana’s Oumar Ballo to register 20 points and 12 rebounds, so look for Queen to capitalize in this one.
Brice Williams — Less than 3.5 assists (Via Sleeper)
Brice Williams has been Nebraska‘s leader all season long, averaging a team-high 19.6 points and 2.9 assists per game. In fact, he had a memorable performance all things considered in a wild 49-46 loss to Michigan, but no other Husker was able to get things going.
During that wild affair, Williams scored 26 of Nebraska’s total 46 points. Without his contributions (Williams shot 43% from the field), the rest of the Huskers shot a horrific 17% in the game.
That’s how Williams played 36 minutes and failed to register a single assist. It was his first game without an assist since Dec. 7 vs. Michigan State.
I don’t think Williams will have a bad game against Minnesota, and I wouldn’t expect him to have zero assists in this one. But the performance in the loss to Michigan is the kind of thing that sticks with a team, and it’s enough to keep Williams below the 3.5 assists vs. Minnesota on Saturday.
