Braden Smith Moves to No. 2 on Purdue's All-Time Assist Leaderboard
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Braden Smith has added another major accomplishment to his impressive career at Purdue. On Sunday, the junior guard surpassed Brian Walker on the program's all-time assist leaderboard and now is all alone in the No. 2 spot.
Smith entered Sunday's game against Northwestern with 567 assists, needing six to surpass Walker (572). The junior guard had three at the end of the first half and was able to get his sixth in the second half.
Another accolade for Braden Smith 👏
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 5, 2025
He is now 2nd all-time in @BoilerBall history with 573 assists ‼️#B1GMBBall on @BigTenNetwork 📺 pic.twitter.com/zG3UJejSj2
This latest feat for Smith comes just a game after he joined Purdue's 1,000-point club, scoring 20 points in an 81-61 victory over Minnesota on Thursday. He's also just the second player in program history to record more than 1,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds in his career.
Bruce Parkinson is currently Purdue's all-time assist leader, holding the record at 690 assists. With one-and-a-half seasons of eligibility remaining, Smith is on pace to become Purdue's new record holder by the end of his career.
Smith is averaging 14.9 points, 8.7 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.
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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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