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At 7:39pm tonight, the Purdue Boilermakers continue their quest for their first NCAA Tournament Championship against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
Earlier in the season, Purdue defeated Gonzaga 73-62 in the Maui Invitational. Zach Edey led the Boilermakers in scoring with 25 points. He also inhaled 14 rebounds. Gonzaga’s leading scorer was Graham Ike with 14 points.
Purdue hasn’t changed from that November 20th matchup. Gonzaga is vastly different. Point guard Ryan Nembhard was in his second game as a Bulldog. Ben Gregg was coming off the bench for Mark Few. Both of those players are starting and playing at a high level.
Since the addition to Gregg to the starting lineup, Gonzaga is 16-2. Both of their losses to St. Mary’s.
On Friday’s edition of Query & Company with Jake Query & Jimmy Cook, St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett joined the program to explain how Purdue can defeat Gonzaga.
Additionally, former basketball coach and current college basketball analyst, Steve Lappas, joined the show to preview tonight’s heavyweight matchup. He we will be on the call tonight with Andrew Catalon on TBS.
Finally, earlier in the week, we had Robbie Hummel on the program. He revealed how proud he was about the job Matt Painter has done over the years to get to the basketball program where it is today.
Tonight’s game has another former Boilermaker excited. The custodian, Brian Cardinal, closed out the week of Purdue guests by discussing the emotional side of this game for Purdue. He explained how it makes him feel seeing Gene Keady along for the ride for all of success this season.
