5 Things to Know About Purdue Basketball's First Opponent — No. 15 Gonzaga
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The start of a new college basketball season is finally upon us. On Monday night, Purdue will play No. 15 Gonzaga in the Hall of Fame Series to begin the 2026-27 campaign in Las Vegas. It's a challenging opening test for Matt Painter's squad.
Historically, Purdue and Gonzaga have not met often, playing just five times. However, these two teams have met three times in the last five years, including twice during the 2023-24 season. Purdue leads the all-time series 5-0, but getting a sixth win over the Bulldogs won't be easy.
What do we know about Gonzaga heading into the 2026-27 season? Here are a few things to highlight about Purdue's first opponent.
Returning two top-four scorers from last season
Gonzaga only returns 30% of its scoring from last season, but it does bring back two of its top-four scorers from the 2025-26 squad. That tandem is headlined by Braden Huff, a 6-foot-10 fifth-year forward who averaged 17.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last season. The other is 6-foot-7 guard Davis Fogle, who posted 8.6 points and 3.1 boards per game.
Both guys are capable of scoring in different ways and create matchup problems for Purdue. Fogle's size at the guard spot will create a matchup problem for the Boilermakers around the perimeter. Huff's mobility for his size is going to present challenges for Purdue big men Daniel Jacobsen and Caden Pierce, too.
Productive big men
I've already highlighted what Huff can do on the floor, but he's not the only guy in Gonzaga's frontcourt who is productive. Mark Few added 6-foot-10 forward Izan Almansa from France and 7-foot-1 center Massamba Diop from Arizona State.
Almansa played international basketball before committing to Gonzaga and really popped in the team's exhibition game against Arkansas. He scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots in 29 minutes of action.
Diop didn't play particularly well in that preseason contest, but he had a big year as a freshman at Arizona State last season. He started in all 33 games and averaged 13.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per contest.
This is an impressive trio of bigs. Their combined size and athleticism could make this one of the top frontcourt groups in the country.
Getting out in transition
Getting out in transition and utilizing quickness and athleticism has been a feature of Few's teams in the past, and it's expected to be the case again this season. Gonzaga will try to force Purdue into live-ball turnovers and attempt to push the pace after collecting defensive rebounds.
Last season, the Zags attempted 63.3 field goals per game and averaged 84.3 points, both top-20 numbers in college basketball. But they also shot fewer than 20 three-pointers per game, a number that ranked in the 300s nationally.
Gonzaga likes to get to the rim, utilize its bigs and push the tempo when it can. It's critical for the Boilermakers to avoid those live-ball turnovers and compete on the glass to avoid those run-outs.
New faces in the backcourt
Fogle is the only familiar face returning to Spokane for the 2026-27 season. Gonzaga hit the transfer portal hard in the offseason, adding Xaivian Lee (Florida), Isiah Harwell (Houston), and Javon Bennett (Dayton) to reinforce its backcourt. Few also brought in Nathan De Sousa from France.
Lee and Bennett both averaged double-digit point totals at their respective schools last season, and Harwell was a role player for the Cougars. De Sousa adds more international experience to the roster, playing in France's top basketball league.
This is a backcourt that brings a lot of experience to the floor, but it's still a group jelling together.
27 straight NCAA Tournament appearances
Gonzaga is one of the most consistent programs in college basketball. The Bulldogs have made the NCAA Tournament in 27 consecutive seasons, 26 under Few. They're consistently ranked in the top 25 and are always a threat to make a deep run in March Madness.
Under Few, Gonzaga has won 23 WCC regular-season championships and 21 WCC Tournament titles. The Bulldogs have reached the Final Four twice (2017, 2021) and have hit a 30-win total nine times, including seven times in the last 10 years.
Regardless of roster turnover, Few always figures out ways to maximize the talent on his team. He has posted a career record of 773-156, winning more than 83% of his games at Gonzaga.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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