Braden Smith Breaks Another Purdue Record Previously Held by E'Twaun Moore
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The accolades continue to pile up for Purdue senior guard Braden Smith. On Tuesday night, not only did he help guide the Boilermakers to an 80-77 overtime victory over No. 7 Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena, but he also set another program record.
Smith surpassed E'Twaun Moore for most career minutes played wearing a Purdue uniform. The former Boilermaker guard and 10-year NBA veteran played 4,517 minutes across 140 games. He made 135 career starts while in West Lafayette.
4️⃣5️⃣1️⃣8️⃣
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) February 11, 2026
The new Ironman in Purdue history. pic.twitter.com/3Lw7HVw8QW
On Tuesday night, Smith played 40 minutes and has now been on the floor for 4,529 career minutes. He finished the game with 13 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, helping the Boilermakers pick up an important road win.
Smith has accomplished this feat in 134 career games. He has started every game since arriving in West Lafayette in 2022. The Boilermakers still have seven regular-season games remaining, as well as the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.
After his career at Purdue concluded in 2011, Moore enjoyed a 10-year career in the NBA. He spent time with the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns.
Braden Smith seems to make history every night
It seems like Smith makes some sort of history every night he steps on the floor. As a junior, he became Purdue's all-time assist leader and broke the Big Ten's record earlier this season, previously held by Michigan State's Cassius Winston.
Smith is also chasing Bobby Hurley's (Duke) NCAA assist record, as he recorded 1,076 during his college career. The Purdue senior currently has 968 assists.
Following Purdue's win over Maryland, Smith became just the fifth player in college basketball history to record a career stat line with 1,700 points and 950 assists. He joined Hurley, Greg Anthony, Keith Jennings and Sherman Douglas as the only players to achieve that feat.
Smith has been an iron man for Purdue during his four-year career, starting in every game and logging an average of nearly 34 minutes per contest for his career. He has averaged at least 30 minutes per game in each of his four seasons, coming to a peak in the 2024-25 campaign when he logged 37 minutes per game.
With more help in the backcourt this year, Smith has gotten a little more rest, but he's still averaging 33.7 minutes per game. He has a chance to put some serious distance between himself and Moore in the career minutes category over the final month of 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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