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Braden Smith shakes off tough day, makes plays late as Purdue advances to Sweet 16
By Adam Spencer
Published:
ST. LOUIS — It’s hard to miss him.
Despite being the smallest player on the court most of the time, Purdue‘s Braden Smith has the brightest shoes in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
His sparkling Nikes are easy to spot, and it seems the Miami Hurricanes were keying on them in the first half of Sunday’s Round 2 NCAA Tournament matchup at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
At the intermission, Smith had been held to 2 points (on 1-of-6 shooting and 0-for-2 from 3-point range) and 2 rebounds. More telling, the NCAA’s all-time assists leader (a record he set in Round 1 on Friday), only had 2 assists and had committed 4 turnovers.
That slump didn’t last long.
Smith picked up his third assist in the first minute of the second half to help the Boilermakers cut their deficit to 42-41.
He dished out his fourth dime before the 17-minute mark of the second half, giving Purdue a 45-42 lead.
After picking up assist No. 5, Smith finally hit a fallaway jumper on the baseline to get his offense going. Don’t let a shooter see the ball go through the net.
Speaking of shooters, Fletcher Loyer had a game to remember. He didn’t miss a shot until the 7:54 mark in the second half, and then didn’t miss again.
Loyer finished with a game-high 24 points on 6-of-7 shooting. He went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
“Fletcher’s efficiency is just off the charts,” coach Matt Painter said. “To get 24 points on 7 shots, only have 1 miss, is really kind of unheard of in terms of his points per possession.”
But when push came to shove late in the second half, Smith was the man with the ball in his hands making play after play.
And those 4 3-pointers Loyer made? Smith had the assist on 2 of them.
Though he only made 3 of his 12 shots and went 0-for-4 from deep, he was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line and also had this breakaway layup to put Purdue up 11 late:
Smith would be the first to tell you he didn’t have his best game, but as Painter says, great leaders make sure to find ways to impact the game in a positive way.
“To be able to put that behind you — anytime guys don’t shoot well, it’s frustrating,” Painter said. “We had a game (in a previous NCAA Tournament) he did the same thing. He didn’t shoot well, but he made 5 free throws down the stretch. …
“He had a tough night, to be frank with you. He had 8 turnovers and that’s very rare. And he didn’t shoot well. But he still makes plays for us and that’s what great players do. You make the free throws down the stretch and you put things behind you and move on.
“We have a good team. We have good balance, and Braden is the guy that makes us go and he sets things off. I know he’s frustrated, but you know, we were able to win and advance, and now we can play another game.”
When all was said and done, Smith finished with 12 points, 8 assists and 2 rebounds to go with 8 turnovers. He also had 1 steal in the contest.
Trey Kaufman-Renn continues to be one of the most-underrated players in major college basketball. He put up 19 points and 9 rebounds in what ultimately became a 79-69 victory.
Loyer (8-for-8), Smith (6-for-6) and Kaufman-Renn (3-for-3) combined to go 17-for-17 from the free-throw line, part of an impressive 21-of-22 effort by Purdue from the charity stripe.
“Obviously when you get a little bit of a lead and you can make your free throws, it really helps,” Painter said. “So going 21-for-22 could be the key stat of the game outside of Fletcher’s great performance.”
This was an extra-sweet win for Matt Painter. In addition to it being his 500th victory as the head coach of the Boilermakers, this now marks the third-straight year that he’s led Purdue to the Sweet 16.
“I think the one thing that gets lost at Purdue because we don’t sign McDonald’s All-Americans is that our players are really good,” Painter said. “And that’s what you want, right? You want to be able to piece teams together, and our staff’s made improvements through the years in terms of finding guys that fit, finding skill. …
“These guys have put in — I know coaches always talk about it — but they’ve put in so much in all areas to be the best that they can be. And that’s how you end up getting a lot of victories, because you have really good players that are committed.”
Waiting for the Boilermakers as Painter looks for win No. 501 will be 11-seed Texas out of the SEC. That game will tip off on Thursday, March 26, at a time TBD.
Is this the year Purdue wins that elusive national championship? Here’s what Kalshi has to say about this year’s national champion:
A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam is the news editor across all Saturday Football brands.