Tag / Braden Smith

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Braden Watch

As we head into the final week of the regular season, Braden Smith sits in fifth place for the all-time NCAA assist leaderboard.  During Thursday’s loss to Michigan State, Smith notched ten assists, giving him 1004 for his career and becoming just the fifth player to surpass 1000.  With three non-tournament games remaining, Smith is five assists away from tying LIU’s Jason Brickman for fourth place and 72 away from Bobby Hurley’s record of 1076.  At his current pace of 8.8 assists per game, Smith would need a little over eight more games to reach Hurley, meaning Purdue would need at least five games between the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

1,076 – Bobby Hurley
1,038 – Chris Corchiani
1,030 – Ed Cota
1,009 – Jason Brickman
1,004 – Braden Smith

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Top Of The Heap

With just under thirteen minutes left in the second half of Purdue’s victory over Wisconsin Saturday night at the Kohl Center, Braden Smith tied the all-time assists record in Big Ten history with a pass to Gicarri Harris, who drained a three-pointer despite being fouled on the play.  Less than four minutes later, he dished off under the basket to Oscar Cluff, who converted on the layup to give Smith sole possession of the record.  Smith finished the night with twelve assists, putting his career total at 893, three more than Cassius Winston, who toiled for Michigan State from 2017-20.

The win, giving the Boilermakers a 3-0 start in Big Ten play for just the third time under coach Matt Painter, was also the 100th victory for Purdue’s senior class, making them the eighth-fastest class in Big Ten history to reach 100 career victories with 124 career games.  Smith and the Boilermakers look to extend their records tomorrow against Washington at Mackey Arena.

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Gathering Some Hardware On The Hardwood

For the third consecutive year, the Big Ten’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Year calls Mackey Arena home.  Braden Smith took home the honor on Tuesday, thanks to a season averaging 16.3 points, 8.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game.  He became just the fourth player in Division I history to have at least 500 points, 270 assists, 140 rebounds and 70 steals in a single season.  Along the way, he scored his 1000th career point, his 500th career rebound, and broke the school record for career assists.

After Zach Edey won the award the previous two years, Purdue becomes the first school to have three straight Big Ten Players of the Year.  This is the seventh time overall that a Boilermaker has won the award.