Every single year the March Madness tournament delivers.

If you went to bed early last night, you missed another absolute classic slate of games.

After nearly blowing a 10-point with just 2:40 left in the second half, Julian Strawther bailed out Gonzaga with the game-winning three-point shot from the edge of the logo at mid-court in a 79-76 win over UCLA.

That was only after the brilliant performance from Markquis Nowell that propelled Kansas State into the Elite Eight with a 98-93 win over Michigan State in our first overtime game of the tournament.

Plus, Florida Atlantic continued its Cinderella run and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history with a 62-55 win over Tennessee as a +185 money line underdog.

Meanwhile, UCONN dominated Arkansas 88-65 as a -178 money line favourite – it’s largest win ever in the Sweet 16 or later in the NCAA Tournament.

Half of the Elite Eight is now set, while the other half is set to be determined tonight.

If we’re lucky, tonight’s games will be half as good as the show we got last night.

This is the Morning Coffee for Friday March 24, 2023.

Gonzaga, Kansas State advance in epic Sweet 16 victories

The showdown between Michigan State and Kansas State felt like a heavyweight fight at Madison Square Garden.

Nowell set an NCAA tournament record with 19 assists as the Wildcats came out on top in a battle of big-time shots.

Ultimately, Kansas State benefited from outscoring the Spartans 16-2 in points off turnovers, including the steal by Nowell and the ensuing layup to seal the victory late in overtime.

The Wildcats, who have never reached the Final Four, have gone from +7500 to +1100 to win the national championship at FanDuel since the start of the tourney.

A couple of hours later, Drew Timme went off for 36 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Zags to a 79-76 win over UCLA.

Gonzaga outscored the Bruins 20-8 in second-chance points, including 18-0 in the second half.

In the end, it came down to this epic three-point shot by Strawther to win the game.

Gonzaga is down from +1500 to +550 to win the tournament at FanDuel following another impressive win.

The Zags will join Kansas State, UCONN and Florida Atlantic in waiting to find out who they will face next in the Elite Eight.

Thursday’s FanDuel Best Bet cashed, with UCONN winning and covering as a 3.5-point favourite.

Overall, Sweet 16 favourites went 3-1 straight up and against the spread, with Florida Atlantic pulling off the lone upset as a 4.5-point favourite versus Tennessee.

While the under had dominated with a 33-15 record, the over went 3-1 in the first four games of the Sweet 16.

As for a FanDuel Best Bet for tonight’s games, I’m going to hope the favourites continue to deliver and roll with a two-team money line parlay with Houston and Texas to win at even-money.

 The Cougars are a legitimate national championship contender and I think they take care of business tonight. But I’m not rushing to bet them to win by eight points.

Instead, I’ll take Houston on the money line and pair the with a Texas team that might still be a little underrated considering they are playing their best basketball of the season right now.

Give me a two-team parlay with Houston and Texas to win at +100 as my FanDuel Best Bet for tonight’s Sweet 16 action.

Bruins closing in on single-season wins record

The Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 last night as the biggest favourite on the NHL board at -430 at FanDuel.

The Bruins are up to 55 wins and 115 points this season.

Boston is now seven wins shy of the all-time NHL single-season record with 11 games remaining on the schedule.

Elsewhere, the Ottawa Senators picked up a crucial 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Dallas Stars beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in regulation, which allowed the Senators to pull within five points of Pittsburgh for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

In the West, the Calgary Flames’ playoff hopes were dealt another blow in a 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The combination of a Calgary loss and a Winnipeg Jets win over the Anaheim Ducks means that Winnipeg is now six points clear of Calgary for the final wild-card spot with nine games remaining for both teams.

Two NHL bets to consider for Friday Night

While I’ve locked in the Houston-Texas ML parlay as my FanDuel Best Bet for Friday night, I’ve got two NHL bets I’ve already played that I think are worth consideration.

We’ve got one player circled for both wagers.

In case you missed it, Jack Hughes is in the midst of a breakout season – his fourth in the NHL.

 After recording 56 points in 49 games last season, Hughes took it to another level with 81 points in his first 64 games this season.

Hughes has hit a bit of a rough stretch of late, going without a point in three straight games. I think that changes tonight in Buffalo.

After matching a season-high with 10 shots on goal in Tuesday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild, I think Hughes goes back to work tonight and ends his goal drought.

Hughes any time goal scorer is +100 at FanDuel. Hughes 5+ shots on goal is -102 at FanDuel.

When these teams met back in November, Hughes scored and finished with exactly five shots on goal in a 3-1 win over the Sabres.

I played Hughes any time goal scorer and Hughes 5+ shots on goal as individual NHL plays at FanDuel.

Good luck to everyone tonight and have a great weekend.

We’ll be back again with the Morning Coffee on Monday.