Purdue and Gonzaga are not part of the same conference, with their campuses separated by almost 2,000 miles.
Despite the distance, when the two teams clash in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 on Friday night, they will be well-acquainted opponents.
Having met during the regular season for two consecutive years, the Boilermakers and Bulldogs will now face off in the Midwest Region semifinals with much higher stakes.
Purdue, the top-seeded team with a record of 31-4, easily won their first two tournament games, defeating Grambling 78-50 and Utah State 106-67 in Indianapolis.
It’s unlikely that Purdue will have a similar smooth path against Gonzaga.
“I think they’re a different team. We’re a different team,” Purdue star center Zach Edey said. “We’re going to approach it like it’s a new game.”
In their initial encounter this season, Purdue emerged victorious with a score of 73-63 during the Maui Invitational in November. Edey led the way with 25 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks.
Edey contributed 23 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks to Purdue’s 84-66 triumph over Gonzaga in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament last season.
However, those past victories will hold no weight once the game commences on Friday.
“It helps (to have played them), but they’re a different team now,” Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn said. “When you go throughout the season, you get better, you get more connected as a unit, you get better defensively, you get better offensively. While they have the same personnel, they’re just better together.”
After last year’s unexpected loss to 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickson in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round, Purdue has redeemed themselves this season by living up to their top seed. Edey showcased an impressive performance averaging 26.5 points, 17.5 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks in the weekend wins.
Their refined perimeter shooting was evident in the game against Utah State, where they successfully made 11 of 23 attempts from beyond the arc.
Coming into the tournament as a No. 5 seed, Gonzaga (27-7) entered with less attention than usual. However, they smoothly advanced to the Sweet 16, defeating McNeese 86-65 and Kansas 89-68 at Salt Lake City.
“The Sweet 16 thing, we don’t take it for granted at all,” coach Mark Few said. “I’ll say it again. I think it’s the greatest sporting event in the entire world. It’s so exciting and so, just, awesome to be a part of it.”
“Probably even better than that is being able to take your groups through it. Yeah, mid-December or late December, this was looking like hey, maybe it wasn’t going to happen, you know.”
Anton Watson excelled with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists against McNeese while delivering 21 points and six rebounds against the injury-plagued Kansas.
Lead guard Ryan Nembhard played a significant role with 21 assists in the two victories.
Now, the Bulldogs must contend with the nation’s most dominant center and his bolstered supporting squad.
“We knew we had to finish strong. We did that,” Few said. “We’ve just always impressed upon them, you know, we get in this thing, we know how to win in this thing.”
“This is not a new thing for our program, for the staff and for the players that are in here. I think they really bought into that and believed that. Especially the new ones.”
