The No. 5 Gonzaga Bulldogs will take on the No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers in the First Round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Friday. Tipoff is set for this Midwest Regional semifinal is set for 7:39 p.m. ET from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit and the game will air on both TBS and TruTV.
2024 March Madness picks
No. 5 Gonzaga vs. No. 1 Purdue best bet
Gonzaga (27-7) is back in the Sweet 16 for a ninth straight year, tying Duke for the third longest streak in NCAA Tournament history. Mark Few’s bunch were able to pull this off by collecting a few dominant wins last weekend, clobbering both No. 12 McNeese State and No. 4 Kansas by 21 points in their respective contests. The Zags are dialed in right now and this is impressive considering that they were considered a bubble team just one month ago.
Gonzaga runs a very fast and efficient offense with forward Graham Ike serving as the team’s leading scorer. The Bulldogs take care of the basketball with just a 14.1% turnover rate and they are very proficient from inside of the arc with a 58.3% shooting percentage from two. However, it’s going to be interesting to see how they gameplan around Zach Edey inside of the paint and if top three-point shooter Nolan Hickman will play a huge role in this one.
Purdue (31-4) is on a redemption tour after last year’s first round debacle and made sure that there wasn’t another epic failure this past weekend. The Boilermakers blew out No. 16 Grambling State in round one before totally annihilating No. 8 Utah State by 39 points in round two. The dominance of Zach Edey was on full display as he averaged 26.5 points, 17.5 rebounds, and three blocks through those two games. Opponents focusing on 7’4” big man opened the door for Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer to also get active offensively.
Edey is the nucleus of Purdue’s attacks on both sides of the floor and it’s especially apparent in the rebounding department. The Boilermakers have been able to create second-chance opportunities with 37.9% offensive rebounding rate and have been able to prevent them on the other end with a 24.2% rate on defense. As just mentioned, the focus on Edey in the middle frees up other Purdue players on the outside and the team actually leads the country in three-point shooting at 40.9%. It will be imperative for Gonzaga defenders to close in and take out those shooters.
Betting lines
Thursday odds
Spread: Purdue -5.5
Total: 154.5
Moneyline: Purdue -238, Gonzaga +195
Opening odds
Spread: Purdue -5.5
Total: 154.5
Moneyline: Purdue -230, Gonzaga +190
All odds are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Best bet: Under 154.5
This could very well be the best game of the entire Sweet 16 as both teams are coming off dominant efforts in the first two rounds of the tournament. In a highly competitive showdown like this one, I expect defense to prevail as both teams will have to work to get into a rhythm. I’ll take the under.