Purdue and Gonzaga: The same this time, only different

DETROIT — Purdue and Gonzaga meet again Saturday night, with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line, but not even for the first time this season.

It was way back in November that the Boilermakers and Bulldogs met in Honolulu, a 73-63 Purdue win, the Boilermakers’ first step toward winning the Maui Invitational.

How much does that prior experience vs. one another affect this weekend’s higher-stakes game?

“I think the experience of playing them gives you a reference point and it gives them a reference point, but I think it means very little,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “I don’t think either team played very well in that game. I don’t think either team shot very well in that game. So they had a lot of open looks that they don’t normally make in that game.”

Gonzaga’s season has been eventful. It was ranked 11th at the time of the Maui Invitational but wound up having to play its way off the Bubble late in the season. In so doing — earning a 5 seed — it evolved.

Coach Mark Few believes his team was more settled in offensively as the season wound down, with new-look, bigger lineups to go along with its formidable guard tandem of Nolan Hickman and Ryan Nembhard.

Ben Gregg replaced Dusty Stromer in the starting five on Jan. 18, almost the exact midway point of the season. Since, the 6-foot-10, 230-pound Gregg has allowed Gonzaga to effectively play massive lineups alongside center Graham Ike and 6-8 combo forward Anton Watson, while the guards can spark transition offense on their own. Stromer, a 6-6 freshman, brings his 36-percent three-point shooting and versatility off the bench. Collectively, Gonzaga shot a stellar 39 percent from three during West Coast Conference play, 36 percent overall.

Its game vs. Purdue being the exception, not the rule this season.

Gonzaga was 6-of-32 from three vs. Purdue in Hawaii; the only Zag to make more than one that day was Ike, who has made just one three-pointer ever since.

“Our connectivity and our synergy is on a whole other level,” Ike said of Gonzaga’s changes since November.

The concern for Purdue when the Zags have three bigs on the floor will lie in the rebounding column, while also being wary of keeping Nembhard and Hickman in the halfcourt. In the first meeting, Lance Jones was the game’s foremost transition threat. Purdue doesn’t want any different.

“We actually played really, really hard against them the first time,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, whose team ranks No. 7 nationally in offensive efficiency per KenPom. “We just turned the ball over too much and shot way, way, way too many threes. Hopefully we’ll get that cleared up. We’re sharing it better, and I think we’re much more purposeful on the offensive end.”

Few’s team has won 11 of its last 12, including a win at Kentucky, a win at St. Mary’s and last weekend’s handling of short-handed Kansas.

Gonzaga is better now than it was on Oahu; Purdue, though, is playing its “best basketball,” point guard Braden Smith said, and has two wins over the Zags in as many seasons to draw confidence from.

“I think there’s a certain level of confidence,” forward Trey Kaufman-Renn said, “but you also have to recognize that, like us, they’re a different team and their roles are different. Who’s doing what is different. They are much sharper than they were.”