Purdue's Braden Smith is having a terrific Big Ten Tournament so far, and all of a sudden his race to track down former Duke legend Bobby Hurley on the NCAA's all-time assists list seems right on track. Smith has 26 assists in two games, and now is just 21 assists away from the record.
CHICAGO — For a while there, it looked like Braden Smith was going to run out of games. For the Purdue point guard, the dream of catching Bobby Hurley to become college basketball's all-time assist leader was going to come up short.
With the Boilermakers staggering to the finish line, losing four of their final six regular season games, the math was getting tough. For Smith to catch Hurley, the former Duke legend, he needed to get the Boilers back on track.
And he has. Purdue has looked great in winning its first two Big Ten games, winning by double digits against Northwestern and Nebraska. Smith set a Big Ten Tournament record with 16 dimes in the 81-68 victory over the Wildcats, and he added 10 more on Friday in the 74-56 trouncing of the Cornhuskers.
No one has ever had 26 assists total in back-to-back games of the Big Ten Tournament.
Smith, a senior from Westfield, Ind., now has 1,055 career assists. Hurley had 1,076 at Duke from 1989-1992. That's 21 to go for the tie, and 22 to break the record.
Smith is guaranteed at least two more games, and hopefully there will be many more. The Boilermakers play UCLA on Saturday in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals at the United Center in Chicago. Then they'll have at least one NCAA Tournament game. Purdue is a projected No. 3 seed at the moment, but that could improve if they can win the Big Ten.
Smith has been fabulous, and the Boilermakers, who were preseason No. 1, seem back on track. The offense is humming, Smith is doing his job and the Boilermakers look like contenders again.
Smith's leadership as a senior goes far beyond just the assists. He's a leader in the locker room and on the sidelines, too. During a timeout in the second half, he got on his teammates for some missed defensive assignments. Purdue coach Matt Painter just watched and admired it all, a leader who cares.
"He was talking about the lack of communication in ball screen defense. So he was losing his mind because they weren't calling left, right, whatever,'' Painter said during the postgame press conference. (Smith wasn't there.) "We were trying to calm everybody at that point. But it was like sometimes you get guys in there that lose their shit and they don't say anything that makes any sense.
"You're like, hey, I'm glad the guy cares. What locker room are you in, though? What he was saying, he was accurate. So sometimes it's just shut up and sit there. Players that lead the right way and are talking about the things that we're drilling and trying to get out there, it's better coming from them. It just simply is.''
NCAA all-time assists leaders
Here is the list of the top-20 all-time assist leaders in NCAA history, as of Friday, March 13:
1,076 — Bobby Hurley, Duke (1989-93)
1,055 — Braden Smith, Purdue (2022-present)
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)
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)