CHICAGO — Braden Smith used his left hand to interrupt up a move alongside the sideline. The ball popped into the air and headed out of bounds earlier than Smith jumped ahead, absolutely prolonged, and tapped it forward to Omer Mayer for a fast-break layup.
That’s the way you chase a report.
Smith moved into second on the NCAA profession assists listing with one other easy efficiency for No. 18 Purdue on Thursday. The senior guard set a Big Ten match report and matched a profession excessive with 16 assists, main the Boilermakers to an 81-68 victory over Northwestern.
The 22-year-old Smith is as much as 1,045 assists in 142 video games, passing North Carolina’s Ed Cota (1,030) and North Carolina State’s Chris Corchiani (1,038). Bobby Hurley is No. 1 with 1,076 assists in 140 video games for Duke from 1989 to 1993.
“I’ve been very thankful to be around a lot of great guys who can score and put the ball in the basket,” Smith mentioned. “They trust me. … The coaching staff trusts me to go out there and make plays. When you give me confidence, it’s kind of what you want as a player.”
Smith mentioned he would not know something about Corchiani and Cota, however he is aware of of Hurley’s profession. Purdue coach Matt Painter provided a extra full perspective on Smith’s elite firm.
“It’s an unbelievable honor,” Painter mentioned. “It’s an unbelievable feat to be where he is, to have the second-most assists in the history of the NCAA. He had one high major offer. He’s meant a lot to our program.”
Smith scored simply 5 factors on 2-for-8 taking pictures, however the Boilermakers leaned on their inside gamers in opposition to the smaller Wildcats. He had two steals and dedicated only one turnover.
It was a a lot better efficiency than the final time he confronted Northwestern, when he had 9 assists and 4 turnovers in a 70-66 victory on March 4.
“As a competitor, I take it to heart every game I don’t play well,” Smith mentioned. “Other than the assists, I don’t think I played great today. I didn’t shoot it well. I thought I had some defensive parts here and there that I thought I did good at. Overall, for us and for me, it was good to get them again and to play them. I thought defensively we were a lot better.”
Smith helped set the tone with 9 assists in the primary half as Purdue jumped to a 45-21 lead on the break. Northwestern closed to 73-59 with 5:57 left, however Smith handed to Oscar Cluff for a layup on the opposite finish.
Northwestern coach Chris Collins referred to as Smith “a special player.”
“His level of consistency, his smarts, and he’s been a big winner,” Collins mentioned. “This is a championship-level player. It wasn’t just about assists. He’s won Big Ten championships. He’s been in a national championship game.”
Collins performed alongside Hurley for one season at Duke, and he was certain he was going to listen to from his former teammate after the loss to Purdue.
“I’m afraid to look at my phone because I’m sure Bobby has texted me with some expletives about not doing the job to keep his record safe,” Collins cracked. “Sorry, Bobby.”
