Purdue opens the 2026-27 season with a real test.
On Monday night in Las Vegas, the Boilermakers face No. 15 Gonzaga in the Hall of Fame Series, and Matt Painter’s team will get an immediate read on where it stands against one of college basketball’s most reliable powers.
Purdue has owned the series to this point, going 5-0 all-time against the Bulldogs, but this one comes with a different feel. These teams have crossed paths only five times overall, yet three of those meetings have come in the last five years, including twice in the 2023-24 season.
Gonzaga doesn’t bring back a ton of production from last season, returning just 30% of its scoring. But the pieces it does have are dangerous, starting with Braden Huff.
The 6-foot-10 fifth-year forward was Gonzaga’s top returning scorer, putting up 17.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last season. Davis Fogle is the other key returner, and the 6-foot-7 guard gives the Zags a different kind of problem with his size on the perimeter.
He averaged 8.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
That duo alone gives Purdue plenty to think about, but Gonzaga’s frontcourt goes deeper than Huff. Mark Few added 6-foot-10 forward Izan Almansa from France and 7-foot-1 center Massamba Diop from Arizona State, creating a big group that can stretch and pressure opponents in different ways.
Almansa already flashed in the team’s exhibition game against Arkansas, scoring 14 points with six rebounds and two blocks in 29 minutes. Diop’s preseason showing wasn’t as sharp, but his track record at Arizona State was strong. As a freshman last season, he started all 33 games and averaged 13.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.
Put those three together, and Gonzaga has the look of a frontcourt that can cause problems all night.
The Bulldogs also want to play fast. Few’s teams have long leaned on transition, quickness and athleticism, and that figures to remain the plan this season. Gonzaga will look to turn Purdue mistakes into run-outs, especially off live-ball turnovers and defensive rebounds.
Last season, the Zags averaged 84.3 points per game and took 63.3 shots a night, both top-20 marks nationally. They didn’t rely much on the three-point line, though, attempting fewer than 20 threes per game, a number that ranked in the 300s.
That style makes the paint and the glass especially important. Gonzaga wants to get to the rim, use its bigs and push the tempo whenever it can. For Purdue, the assignment is clear: avoid giving the ball away in ways that fuel transition and battle on the boards to keep the Bulldogs from getting loose.
The one familiar face back in Spokane is Fogle, but Gonzaga reshaped the rest of the roster through the transfer portal. Xaivian Lee came over from Florida, Isiah Harwell from Houston and Javon Bennett from Dayton, while Nathan De Sousa joined from France. Lee and Bennett both scored in double figures at their previous schools last season, Harwell played a role for Houston, and De Sousa brings more international experience after playing in France’s top basketball league.
That backcourt has experience, but it’s still a group learning how to fit together.
Even with all that turnover, Gonzaga remains Gonzaga. The Bulldogs have reached the NCAA Tournament in 27 straight seasons, 26 of them under Few, and they continue to live near the top of the rankings.
Few has guided the program to 23 WCC regular-season titles and 21 WCC Tournament championships, with Final Four trips in 2017 and 2021. Gonzaga has also reached 30 wins nine times, including seven times in the last 10 years.
Few’s track record speaks for itself. He owns a 773-156 record at Gonzaga, a winning percentage of more than 83 percent, and he has a habit of squeezing every last bit of production out of whatever roster he has in front of him.
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