What Braden Smith Needs to Average to Break Assist Record at Regular Season's End
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Braden Smith continues to dazzle with his insane passing ability. In the Indy Classic, the Purdue guard dished out 14 assists and led the Boilermakers to an 88-60 victory over Auburn. That brought his season total to 115 assists, as he continues to chase Bobby Hurley's NCAA record.
Through the first 12 games of the season, Smith is averaging 9.6 assists per game, which leads college basketball currently. So, what would he need to do to break Hurley's record of 1,076 career assists by the end of the regular season?
Smith sits at 873 career assists, needing 204 to break Hurley's record. With 19 games remaining on the schedule — one non-conference and 18 league games — the senior guard would need to average 10.74 assists per game to become college basketball's all-time leader.
That would also put his season total at 319 assists, which would be a new single-season record for Smith. He had 313 dimes for the Boilermakers last year, but that was across 36 total games. Purdue played 31 regular-season games, two Big Ten Tournament games, and three games in the NCAA Tournament.
We've witnessed Smith accomplish plenty during his college career, so the assist record is certainly within reach by the end of the regular season, though it would be difficult.
Smith has been playing incredible basketball since Purdue's loss to Iowa State on Dec. 6. In the team's last three games, he's accounted for 36 total assists — 12 against Minnesota, 10 vs. Marquette, and 14 in the win over Auburn.
If he could sustain that pace, Smith would break the record before playing in a single postseason game this year. It's a tall task, but he's also playing the best basketball of his career right now.
What about the postseason?
If Smith is unable to reach Hurley's record in the regular season, he will (likely) have at least two opportunities in the postseason. If the Boilers played in just one Big Ten Tournament game and one NCAA Tournament contest, he would need to average just 9.71 assists per game across the next 21 games to break the record.
Smith is already averaging 9.6 assists per game, so he's essentially on pace to break the record.
The further Purdue goes in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament, the more the average drops. If the Boilermakers were able to play the maximum of 40 games — 28 remaining on the schedule — that average drops to 7.3 assists per game.
Purdue fans will continue to keep an eye on Smith as he chases the all-time NCAA record. Right now, he's putting himself in a good position to break the record by the end of the regular season or early in the postseason.
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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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