Game Preview: No. 15 Gonzaga Opens 2026-27 Season Against Purdue in Las Vegas

No. 15 Gonzaga begins its Pac12 era against the Purdue Boilermakers at T-Mobile Arena in the TNT Sports Hall of Fame Series. Tip is at 4:30 p.m. PT (7:30 ET), with Brian Anderson and Grant Hill calling it on TNT, truTV and HBO Max. If you’re up for a doubleheader, No. 22 UCLA and No. 5 Arizona play the nightcap at 7 PT.

Purdue opens the season just outside the AP Top 25 for the first time in 80 weeks. The coaches poss still has them No. 24, and Matt Painter just signed an extension through 2030-31, so nobody in West Lafayette is panicking. But this is a very different Purdue team than Gonzaga has faced in the past.

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Purdue is 5-0 all-time against Gonzaga. Two of those wins ended Gonzaga seasons in the Sweet 16, and three came in a 17-month stretch from November 2022 to March 2024. Most of that damage came from Zach Edey, now a center for the Memphis Grizzlies, and point guard Braden Smith, now a rookie on a two-way deal with the Indiana Pacers.

In addition to the loss of Braden Smith, the Boilermakers will be without Fletcher Loyer (graduated), Trey Kaufman-Renn (transfer to Kansas), and Oscar Cluff (graduated) who each left this spring after taking Purdue to the Elite Eight. Those four were the Boilermakers’ top four scorers last season and accounted for 65% of their points.

Purdue has not looked like a finished product yet, but neither has Gonzaga. And Monday is the first time either team has a chance to put a high quality win on their resume.

Purdue’s Preseason

The Boilermakers beat Ball State 87-55 in their exhibition opener and hit 17-of-40 from three, a program exhibition record. Gicarri Harris had 16 points and five assists, C.J. Cox scored 15 on 5-of-6 shooting from deep, and Daniel Jacobsen blocked five shots. Four days later, Purdue beat Purdue Fort Wayne 92-62

Then they went to Hartford and ran into No. 4 UConn.

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The Huskies won 76-53, not quite a bloodbath, but a shocking blowout for two top-30 teams. Purdue missed its first 11 threes and…

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Publish date : 2026-10-29 20:56:00

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