3 keys for Gonzaga to finally beat Purdue in season opener

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs begin the 2026-27 season on Monday, taking on the Boilermakers of Purdue in a top tier opening night showdown.

Purdue is one of the very few teams that have never lost to Gonzaga, with a pair of NCAA Tournament wins in 2000 and 2024 and multiple other victories - including in the Maui Invitational in 2023 and the PK85 in Portland in 2022.

Now Gonzaga draws a very young and inexperienced Purdue roster, which lost superstars Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Oscar Cluff from last year's team and is replacing nearly all of them with internal options.

Below is a look at three keys to victory for Gonzaga to open up the 2026-27 season:

1. Establish Braden Huff in the paint

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Braden Huff. | Photo by Myk Crawford

This Purdue team doesn't have the dominant interior presence of a Zach Edey, or even Oscar Cluff. Sure, the Boilers have 7'3 center Daniel Jacobsen, who averages 1.2 blocks in 12.9 minutes per game, but the rest of the frontcourt is unproven defensively - and Jacobsen is prone to foul trouble, averaging 5.8 fouls per 40 minutes last year.

That presents a problem against Gonzaga's Braden Huff, who enters his fifth season as one of the most efficient low-post scorers in the entire country. Huff averaged 17.8 points in 25.4 minutes per game last year, and dropped 19 points with 11 rebounds in an exhibition loss to Arkansas.

While he's never been a great free throw shooter, if Huff can bait Jacobsen into early foul trouble, it gives Gonzaga a massive advantage - and if he instead is guarded by his longtime childhood friend Caden Pierce, well, Huff has plenty of experience scoring on him as well.

2. Push the pace against Purdue's young backcourt

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Isiah Harwell (1). | Photo by Myk Crawford

Purdue plays slow, slow, slow basketball under Matt Painter - especially the last decade or so. The Boilermakers finished outside the top 300 in KenPom's adjusted tempo metric in three of the past four years and have not ranked inside the top 200 since 2017.

Meanwhile, Gonzaga looks like a team prepared to push the pace - even more than they have in the last few seasons. Xaivian Lee is a hell-raiser when he gets out in the open floor, and sophomore Isiah Harwell looked great in transition last Saturday against Arkansas.

If the Zags can push the tempo and force Purdue to play at their pace, it could challenge the Boilers' inexperienced backcourt - while giving Gonzaga an advantage with so much depth across the board.

3. Make rim protection a priority

Gonzaga Bulldogs forwards Izan Almansa and Sam Funches. | MYK CRAWFORD

The first two exhibition games weren't particularly exciting performances from Massamba Diop, the Arizona State transfer who was named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award preseason watch list as one of the best centers in college basketball.

Diop is very raw offensively, but he's still a huge asset for the Zags due to his rim protection, which we saw against both Arkansas and Lewis-Clark State.

Not only does Purdue have a 7'3 interior presence in Jacobsen, but veterans Caden Pierce and CJ Cox are both good at getting downhill and scoring at the rim.

Diop's ability to alter shots down low will be crucial in this game - and if he finds himself in foul trouble, it will be up to Huff and Izan Almansa - who has been excellent this preseason - to handle the load at the cup.

This game is set to tip at 4:30 PM PT on Monday, Nov. 2. It will be broadcast on TNT and available to stream on HBO MAX.

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