Braden Smith Becomes Third Player in Purdue History to Reach 500 Career Assists
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Purdue guard Braden Smith has become the third player in program history to reach 500 career assists. The junior eclipsed that mark in Saturday afternoon's game against Marshall.
Smith entered Saturday's contest needing just eight assists to hit the 500 mark. He hit that impressive achievement in the second of the game on a dish to fellow junior Trey Kaufman-Renn.
5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) November 23, 2024
Braden Smith now with 500 career assists, coming in his 80th game.
👉 Third fastest to 500 assists in @B1GMBBall history. pic.twitter.com/zwjsUz2yWk
The only other players on program history to surpass 500 career assists were Bruce Parkinson (690 assists) and Brian Walker (572 assists). It's quite an impressive achievement, especially for a junior.
Entering Saturday's game, Smith was averaging 9.4 assists per contest. That tally is tied for the second-best in college basketball.
Smith was selected as an All-Big Ten player and the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year. We'll continue to monitor his assist count throughout the year.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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