Years of near-misses and random run-ins have finally led Gonzaga and Purdue to the same stage, and the timing could hardly be better. On Monday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the No. 15 Bulldogs open the season against the Boilermakers in a neutral-site matchup that feels like the natural result of two elite programs and two elite coaches crossing paths again and again.
The game tips at 4:30 p.m. and is part of the Hall of Fame Series. Arizona and UCLA will follow at 7 p.m., and both men’s games will air on TNT.
This matchup has been brewing for a while. Two years ago in Las Vegas, Matt Painter was asked whether Purdue had ever considered a home-and-home series with Gonzaga. At the time, Painter and Mark Few were both in town for USA Basketball work, and the question made sense given how often their programs had recently bumped into each other.
Those meetings added up quickly: Nov. 25, 2022, at the Phil Knight Legacy in Portland; Nov. 20, 2023, at the Maui Invitational in Honolulu; and March 29, 2024, in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
“We’ve talked about it,” Painter said on July 8, 2024. “Not home-and-home, but we’ve talked about neutral site.”
Now they’ve got one.
Few’s read on Purdue is straightforward. He knows the Boilermakers want to be precise, physical and hard to speed up. He also knows what kind of problems they create.
“Purdue’s one of the real great programs we have in college basketball right now, Matt’s a heckuva coach and they’re just going to be a tough out,” Few said. “They’re very execution-oriented on offense and run a myriad of really, really nice actions, usually off the ball.
But they’re big, they’ve always had those bigs inside. They’re man-to-man defense and they’ll pick us up full court and try to make every basket hard.”
Painter’s scouting report on Gonzaga sounds just as familiar. He expects the Bulldogs to push the pace, lean on size and try to control the glass.
“Great in transition, good size,” Painter said of the Zags. “Obviously getting (Massamba) Diop from Arizona State, good shot-blocker, good length.
Braden Huff is an all-conference player, can score inside and out, can drive the basketball. Xaivian Lee at Princeton, at Florida, a lot of experience, very, very fast.
“There’s a couple areas for us that’s going to be important no matter who we play, but we have to do a better job of keeping people out of transition and these guys are really good in transition. And that starts with taking care of the basketball, taking good shots, setting your defense.”
The personnel has changed almost completely since these teams last met. Huff is the only player on either roster who appeared in that 2024 Sweet 16 game and is back for this one, and he played just nine minutes that night, scoring four points.
He and Purdue’s C.J. Cox are the only returning starters for their teams.
Cox is the Boilermakers’ top returning scorer at 8.5 points per game and was one of their most productive players in exhibition play, averaging 15.3 points. He scored 18 against UConn, accounting for one-third of Purdue’s total offense in that game.
Few sees plenty to worry about with Purdue’s guard play and its ability to wear teams down with execution.
“A great set of guards,” Few said. “They shoot it well, they shoot it freely, they’re difficult to prepare with all the myriad of sets and actions they have and kind of challenge you in every way.
They’re one of those teams that keep you in front, you’ve got to make shots over the top of them and are just phenomenal on the glass. Just the offensive glass and the defensive glass.”
Purdue is also expected to use transfer wing Caden Pierce in a small-ball ‘4’ role. Gonzaga knows Pierce well enough already: Few’s staff recruited him last season, brought him to Spokane for an official visit in January, and he also has ties to Huff and Lee from his days at Glenbard West and Princeton.
“They seem to be really clicking with their execution, obviously I think they probably were all there this summer and adding Caden Pierce is a really, really nice addition,” Few said. “Really athletic and hard driving, hard playing kind of swing forward.”
Gonzaga’s projected starting five is Lee, Isiah Harwell, Davis Fogle, Huff and Diop, though Few’s rotation could still shift before tipoff. Chauncey Wiggins remains ineligible for now, but his status is tied to a temporary restraining order being reviewed by a judge in McLennan County, Texas, in his 5-in-5 lawsuit. A ruling is expected Monday, and it could change his eligibility before the 4:30 p.m. start.
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