Braden Smith had a huge second half, and the No. 5-ranked Purdue Boilermakers came back to beat Iowa 79-72 on Wednesday night. He now has 922 career assists, good for No. 14 all-time in NCAA history.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue has been rolling through its Big Ten basketball schedule so far, trailing for less than 10 total minutes in games through the first five wins.
They were in a different role on Wednesday night. The No. 5-ranked Boilermakers trailed Iowa for much of the night, and didn't take the lead for good until the 4:50 mark. They closed on a 15-8 run to win 79-72, moving to 6-0 in the Big Ten and 16-1 overall. This is their second eight-game winning streak of the season, with their only loss to Iowa State back in December.
As usual, Purdue point guard Braden Smith led the way, even with a quiet first half. He finished with 16 points, eight assists, four rebounds and two steals. All 16 points came in the second half.
"We just had to get some momentum going, and we had to get some stops,'' Purdue coach Matt Painter said after the game. "They got up eight, nine points and we had to get some stops. I'm just proud of our guys.
"Braden didn't have a good first half, but he's a tough dude, man. He's a winner. He made a couple of pull-ups there and got us going.''
Iowa (12-5, 2-4 in Big Ten) led for nearly 23 minutes — Purdue led for only 12 — and made 12-of-25 three-pointers to maintain control of the game. Point guard Bennett Stirtz led the way with 19 points, but was just 2-for-9 from three.
His teammates picked him up, though. Tavion Banks made all three long-ball attempts and Kael Combs was 4-of-5. Iowa couldn't slow down Purdue's offense though once it got rolling in the second half.
The win was Purdue’s fifth straight against Iowa and the 11th win in the last 13 games against the Hawkeyes. Purdue has won seven straight games against Iowa in Mackey Arena.
Purdue shot 72.7 percent from the field in the second half, and only missed one shot in the final 10:30 of the game. They scored on nine straight possessions at one points, and made their free throws, going 14-for-16 in the second half. They scored on 16 of their final 17 possessions.
Smith, the Big Ten's all-time assists leader, now has 922 career assists. Smith needs 154 assists to tie former guard Bobby Hurley's NCAA career record of 1,076. Smith is currently 14th all-time on the NCAA assists list.
Purdue is tied with Nebraska for the Big Ten lead, with both teams at 6-0. Michigan, Michigan State and Illinois are all one game behind at 5-1. Next up for the Boilermakers is their first Los Angeles road trip in Big Ten play. They're at USC on Saturday, and then will play UCLA on Tuesday night.
They did well on last year's trip out to the West Coast, beating both Oregon and Washington by double digits in front of thousands of Purdue fans.
A crowd of 14,876 packed Mackey Arena on Wednesday night. It was the Boilermakers' 100th consecutive home sellout
NCAA all-time assists leaders#
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)
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)
922 — Braden Smith, Purdue (2022-present)
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)