Braden Smith explains why he returned to Michigan State game, shares outlook for semifinal game

Braden Smith wasn’t about to let an injury slow him down during Friday’s B1G Tournament action.

Smith was driving towards the basket against Michigan State when he grabbed his right leg and went out of bounds. He was later surrounded by concerned teammates with Purdue up 48-41 in the 2nd half.

Here’s video of the play:

Purdue guard Braden Smith goes down after this play with a right leg injury pic.twitter.com/f2u1kAcI6n

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) March 15, 2024

Boilermaker fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Smith was able to return to the game. After it was over, Smith told Andy Katz that he simply hyperextended his knee. Purdue went on to win 67-62.

“I was just driving left and tried to plant with my right and Tyson Walker was just trying to make a play on the ball. Then it hit my knee and it just hyperextended.”

The Purdue guard noted that the injury startled him as he didn’t anticipate his knee hyperextending in the moment.

“Just a little bit of shock. I wasn’t expecting my knee to buckle,” Smith told Katz. “I was just like, ‘What in the world just happened?’ I just kind of fell and there was a little bit of pain on my back, on my calf.”

Even though Smith didn’t necessarily have to come back into the game, he still decided to. With the Boilermakers expected to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, it would have been easy for Smith to decide to rest and save his energy for future games. Smith wanted to leave it all on the court for the players beside him.

“I’m not trying to be invincible or Superman or nothing. I just want to play for my guys and want to be out there for them. I saw the game getting closer,” Smith said. “They went on that run right there when I went out, so I was like, ‘Man, if I’m feeling fine and nothing’s broke, nothing’s falling off, I’m gonna try to go back in there and help them.'”

Here’s video of his conversation with Katz:

Braden Smith provided a health update to @TheAndyKatz after @BoilerBall‘s win in the #B1GMBBT: pic.twitter.com/RzD5J8t3Pw

— Big Ten Men’s Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 15, 2024

Wisconsin awaits Purdue in the semifinals of the B1G Tournament on Saturday. Smith was disappointed with how he played personally vs. Michigan State but was glad he was able to get his teammates the ball.

“I thought offensively, I just wasn’t there all game,” Smith said. “I felt like I could have helped better. I had a couple of turnovers that kind of screwed us. There were just some things that didn’t go my way and that kind of upset me a little bit.”

Smith left nothing up to speculation and said he plans to play in Saturday’s matchup with the Badgers. Smith is currently 2nd on the team in scoring with 13 points per game and leads the team with 7.2 assists per game.

Purdue and Wisconsin battle for a trip to the final at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.