The Gonzaga Bulldogs and Purdue Boilermakers are slated to square off on Friday in NCAA Sweet 16 action. The 5th seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs are 27-7 on the season. After finishing runner up in the West Coast Conference, the Bulldogs smoked McNeese and Kansas to get to Detroit.
For the Purdue Boilermakers, they are the top seed in the Midwest. The Boilermakers are 31-4 on the season. Purdue lost in the Big Ten Tournament to Wisconsin, but in the NCAA Tournament have big wins over Grambling State and Utah State.
The Purdue Boilermakers are the favorites in this game. Purdue is listed at -5.5 over Gonzaga in this one.
Red Hot Gonzaga
There was plenty of talk about how the Gonzaga Bulldogs had fallen off from previous seasons, but here they are, back in a familiar spot – the Sweet 16. The Bulldogs are 4-1 in March and have won 12 out of their last 13 games. The last two losses for the Bulldogs both came to St. Mary’s.
Anton Watson was the key scorer in the blowout win over Kansas. He led five guys in double figures with 21 points. Nolan Hickman added 17 and Graham Ike scored 15 in the game. The Bulldogs are scoring 87.5 points per game in the tournament, and allowing teams to score just 66.5 per game.
The Bulldogs started the season with two wins, before their first loss of the season. That loss came to Purdue. The Boilermakers won that game by 10 points. In that game, Watson scored just 8 points.
Big Man Dominating for Boilers
Zach Edey is going to win the National Player of the Year award again this season. The big man from Purdue is dominating games. He is scoring 24.5 points per game, and ripping down more than 12 rebounds per game. Edey in the tournament is averaging 26.5 points per game and 17.5 rebounds.
The Boilermakers need guard play, and so far they have gotten it. Braden Smith has been quite, but his 8.6 assists over the last three games has been impressive. The Boilermakers have seen Lance Jones and Fletcher Loyer go back and forth as far as scoring. Loyer had 15 in the win over Utah State.
Purdue has lost just three games all season. The first loss of the season for the Boilermakers came on December 1st. That was to Northwestern. Their other two losses came to Nebraska and Ohio State.
Purdue Downs Gonzaga
The Gonzaga Bulldogs and Purdue Boilermakers. Two programs that would love to get to six NCAA Tournament wins and cut down the nets. Both have been there and done that in the big dance. Both have tough losses to reflect on as well.
In the end, the big man for Purdue, Mr. Edey, is going to be too strong. Gonzaga wants to run and shoot the basketball, but the Boilermakers get the ball inside, and it is over.
We like Purdue -5.5, as they win this one by 6 over Gonzaga.
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