NCAA Basketball: 2023 Maui Invitational preview and prediction
Purdue
Purdue is angry and out for blood after their early exit from the big dance last season. Their Maui Invitational begins with a matchup against 11th-ranked Gonzaga, a team they dismantled 84-66 last season in the Phil Knight Legacy event. This team is better and more experienced than last year; they return the large majority of their scoring and they added transfer Lance Jones who is off to a solid start. Their guards struggled with pressure last year, and Jones gives them another ball handler to deal with that as well as another explosive scorer.
It goes without saying, but I’m going to say it any way: Zach Edey is an absolute nightmare. If you let him get position in the low post you might as well just start setting up your offense, but he’s going to score almost every time. Even early on in the year, he appears to be a much better passer than last year, and Purdue is hitting their open looks (46.3% from 3 to start the season).
On defense, Purdue’s perimeter players can be aggressive knowing they have their own version of the Big Friendly Giant waiting to send opponents shots’ about 6 rows into the stands. The most underrated part of Edey’s game? It might be his ability to stay out of foul trouble. Even if he finds himself in hot water, Trey Kaufman-Renn is talented enough to step in and eat up minutes. This team is deep and can hurt you from all over the floor.
Gonzaga
Gonzaga has some new and old faces looking to make an impact this season. Anton Watson and Nolan Hickman, big contributors from last year’s team, are joined by Graham Ike (Wyoming transfer) and Ryan Nembhard (Creighton transfer). Rounding out this team’s rotation is Braden Huff, Dustry Stromer and Ben Gregg. This team plays fast and they can light up the scoreboard, but Mark Few might have a challenge this year that he hasn’t had in years past, and that’s having a ‘go-to’ guy in critical situations. One would assume it would be a guy like Ryan Nembhard, but we will have to wait and see until they find themselves in a tightly contested contest.
Obviously, Gonzaga wants to get some revenge for the way things went against Purdue last year, but when you lose your star center that doesn’t help your case when trying to slow down arguably the best center in the country. However, throughout this event, Ryan Nembhard is going to show the country why he was one of the most coveted players in the portal this offseason, and Anton Watson might prove why many consider him Gonzaga’s most important player. It will be tough to beat Purdue in their first game, but the Zags pose matchup problems for most teams all over the court, and we should be in for fireworks when they square up with the other top teams in the field.