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Braden Smith sets another NCAA record in final game with Purdue
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Braden Smith’s college career is over, and what a career it was.
The Purdue Boilermakers guard is one of the best to ever do it for the Gold and Black. He broke the all-time assist record earlier in the NCAA Tournament and the only player in Big Ten history to score 1000 points and dish out 500 assists across a single career. And last night against Arizona, he broke the NCAA record for most minutes played across a 4-year career with 5,067.
And for his next trick…
Smith had a fantastic season for Purdue, which fell to a dangerous Wildcats team in the Elite 8 Saturday night. Smith himself had a bit of a so-so exit from college basketball, scoring 13 points on 26% shooting with 7 assists, near his season average (which, at 8.8, ranks second in the country.)
Purdue’s defense just never became quite enough to match its offense this season, and that finally caught up with them in the second half. The Wildcats scored 48 points in the second half, completely overwhelming Matt Painter’s squad.
Still, Braden Smith’s NCAA Tournament career is pretty impressive. Across 4 years, Smith helped lead the Boilermakers to a 2nd place finish in 2024, 3 total Sweet 16s, 2 Elite 8’s and a Final Four.
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Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.