IOWA CITY, Iowa — Purdue had lost three straight games to fall out of the top-six, and its season was on the brink of unraveling. Facing a tough week on the road at Nebraska and Iowa, there were a lot on the line for the veteran Boilermakers.

They have answered the challenge — emphatically.

After beating No. 7 Nebraska in overtime on Tuesday in Lincoln, the Boilers went to Iowa City on Saturday and completely waxed the Hawkeyes, winning 78-57. They're now 21-4 on the season and 11-3 in the Big Ten, tied for second behind Michigan. Purdue hosts the Wolverines on Tuesday night at Mackey Arena.

Giacarri Harris and C.J. Cox led Purdue with 14 points each and Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn has 12 each. Senior point guard Braden Smith had just five points, but he had seven rebounds and 12 assists. He now has 980 assists for his career, moving into sixth place on the NCAA all-time list.

Iowa made just 6-of-22 three-pointers and never threatened. The 57 points was their second-lowest total of the season. They lost 71-52 to Michigan State on Dec. 2.

Cox and Harris combined for seven three-pointers themselves, and Purdue's depth overwhelmed the Hawkeyes.  

“We just executed our plays really well, and that’s the reason why he was able to get his open shots and I was able to get my open shots late in the game,” Cox said. 

Purdue has now won four straight games after that losing streak, and will likely move back in to the top-10 on Monday.

They have six regular-season games remaining, with home games against No. 2 Michigan, Indiana, No. 10 Michigan State and Wisconsin, which likely will be ranked on Monday as well after beating Illinois and Michigan State this week. Purdue still has road games at Ohio State and Northwestern. 

Purdue coach Matt Painter was pleased that his team defended Iowa so much better than they did in the first game in January. Purdue won that game 79-72 at Mackey, but gave up a lot of threes and had to scratch to pull the game out late.

This was different. They led comfortably most of the night to sweep the series.

"Braden does a great job of running the show, and then we're making shots,'' Painter said. "I thought the other night against Nebraska, it was our best effort of the season, it was our best rebounding of the season, our execution was good, but we didn't make shots.

"We missed free throws at the end of the game, we missed wide-open threes in the second half, and if we can combine our execution with shot-making, that really helps us."

Here is the list of the top-20 all-time assist leaders in NCAA history, as of Thursday, Jan. 15:

1,076 — Bobby Hurley, Duke (1989-93)
1,038 — Chris Corchiani, N.C. State (1987-91)
1,030 — Ed Cota, North Carolina (1996-2000)
1,009 — Jason Brickman, LIU-Brooklyn (2010-14)
983 — Keith Jennings, East Tennessee State (1987-91)
980 — Braden Smith, Purdue (2022-present)
972 — Steve Blake, Maryland (1999-2003)
960 — Sherman Douglas, Syracuse (1985-89)
956 — Tony Miller, Marquette (1991-95)
954 — Aaron Miles, Kansas (2001-05)

950 — Greg Anthony, Portland/UNLV (1987-91)
947 — Doug Gottlieb, Notre Dame/Oklahoma State (1995-2000)
939 — Gary Payton, Oregon State (1986-90)
934 — D.J. Cooper, Ohio University (2009-13)
902 — Cameron Langley, North Carolina A&T (2017-22)
902 — Orlando Smart, San Francisco (1990-94)
894 — Andre LaFleur, Northeastern (1983-87)
893 — Chico Fletcher, Arkansas State (1996-2000)
890 — Cassius Winston, Michigan State (2016-20)
884 — Jim Les, Cleveland State/Bradley (1982-86)