MADISON, Wis.–Purdue Guard Braden Smith Reacted to becoming the Big Ten’s career assists leader as if it was just another step rather than a climax.
The 6-foot senior still has other goals in mind.
“Obviously, it’s great to see it and be a part of it,” Smith said after scoring 14 points and breaking the conference assist record during the No. 5 upset Saturday night. Purduewon 89-73 wisconsin“But at the end of the day, I’m here for something even bigger than that, and that’s winning a national championship, That’s really our main focus,”
Against Wisconsin, Smith had 12 assists to increase his career total to 893. Cassius Winston set the Big Ten record after compiling 890 assists for Michigan State from 2017 to 2020.
This is quite an accomplishment for a player who was not ranked among the top 150 recruits in the country coming out of high school.
“He’s special,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said of Smith. “That’s elite. A lot of guys who come out of college and want to go pro, it’s like, ‘What do you do well at the professional level?’ He passes better than anyone in college basketball. We sit there and watch. It’s surprising he hasn’t had any bigger offers because he’s a winner.”
Smith has another personal goal he is still pursuing.
“Obviously, that’s out of the way, but I’m aiming for an even bigger goal — winning a national championship,” he said.
Smith later clarified that his reference to the “big one” was the Division I career assist record that has stood for three decades.
Bobby Hurley holds the record after dishing out 1,076 assists. ruler From 1990 to 1993. Smith is 183 assists away from that record with 17 games left in this regular season, as well as how many games Purdue has played in the postseason.
Smith is averaging 9.6 assists this season, and he was leading all Division I players in that category heading into Saturday’s action. This came after he averaged 4.4 assists as a freshman, 7.5 as a sophomore, and 8.7 assists as a junior.
Smith’s experience as a floor leader was evident Saturday when Painter kept her in the game after picking up her third foul with 16:38 remaining.
Painter joked after the game that he was reminding Smith about his three fouls when the senior responded by constantly complaining about the calls going against him.
“I immediately turned and saw his parents [and] I said, ‘It must have been very difficult to get him to bed when he was a baby,'” Painter quipped.
Smith stayed in the contest and had two assists during a 10-0 run that cut Purdue’s lead to 63-44. He got a record-breaking assist with 9:22 remaining when he drove to the basket before dishing oscar cluff For the three-point game.
As soon as he broke the Big Ten record, a cheering section of Purdue fans at the Kohl Center gave Smith a standing ovation and began chanting “Braden Smith”. In keeping with his competitive spirit, Smith focused more on the spectators who were not cheering him.
“There were some people in the front row talking a lot,” he said. “I was just like, ‘Can’t you hear what’s happening here?’ You are talking to me, calling me very small. It doesn’t make any sense. Very small, but the entire opposition field is chanting my name? It doesn’t look very good on you.”
