Matt Painter praises bounce-back game from freshman Braden Smith in Purdue’s road win

Matt Painter’s Purdue squad bounced back on the road, coming up with a clutch and hard-fought win over Ohio State in Columbus Thursday night. A big catalyst for that performance was true freshman Braden Smith.

In the loss to Rutgers, Smith was largely ineffective for the Boilermakers. He finished 1-for-3 from the field with 7 points but had 3 turnovers in the loss.

Smith responded in a big way against the Buckeyes. With Purdue looking lifeless at times in the first half, Smith kept the Boilermakers alive with a strong effort into halftime.

When it was all said and done, Smith went 6-for-10 from the field with a trio of 3-point field goals to finish with 16 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Even bigger, he had just one turnover in a tough road game.

Needless to say, Painter loved what he saw out of the freshman:

“He had a tough game against Rutgers, and you want to see who’s going to respond. He got off to campus and played well and competed and that’s the Braden Smith we need to see,” said Painter after the win.

Already, Smith has proven to be a key player for the Boilermakers. That will continue to be the case throughout B1G play.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.