What Was the Craziest Stat From Purdue's Big Ten Tournament Run?
In this story:
Winning four games in four days is an impressive feat. So, when it comes to Purdue's memorable run to a Big Ten Tournament title in Chicago, that statistic alone is pretty wild. But it's probably not the craziest one of the week for the Boilermakers.
Plenty of crazy things happened at the United Center last week, leading the Boilers to a Big Ten Tournament championship. There are a few interesting statistics that I found to be pretty impressive. I'll let you decide which one was the craziest, though.
Spending fewer than nine minutes trailing during the tournament
Purdue played 160 minutes of basketball last week at the United Center. The Boilermakers spent just 8:53 trailing their opponents. That's not for each game; it's for the entire tournament. It's hard to imagine, especially with the quality of opponent they played in Chicago.
The Boilermakers had wire-to-wire wins over Northwestern and Nebraska before reaching the semifinal round of the tournament. They trailed UCLA briefly on Saturday and found themselves down periodically in the championship game to Michigan.
For Purdue to either lead or be tied for 95% of the tournament — especially when it played three of the top six seeds — is an insane percentage.
Braden Smith's 46 assists in four days
This one probably shouldn't surprise us, but it doesn't take away from the performance Braden Smith put on in Chicago. You might have thought Scottie Pippen returned to the building, the way Purdue's star guard was distributing the basketball.
Smith started the tournament off hot, dishing out 16 assists in Purdue's 81-68 win over Northwestern. He followed it up with a 10-assist performance against Nebraska and had nine in the victory over UCLA. The star guard finished it off with 11 against Michigan in the Championship Game.
The only thing Smith didn't do with the basketball in his hands last week was break the NCAA assist record. But he only needs two more to surpass Bobby Hurley, a record he will almost certainly eclipse in Friday's first-round NCAA Tournament game against Queens.
Never exceeding 36% from three-point range
Matt Painter said it several times throughout the tournament: Purdue was able to win games without shooting above 40% behind the three-point line. It's particularly impressive that the Boilers were able to win the tournament without going off from distance at least once.
Some games were better than others, but Purdue never shot better than 36% from three-point range in its four games. Here are the numbers from its four tournament contests:
- vs. #15 Northwestern — 8-of-23 (34.8%)
- vs. #2 Nebraska — 10-of-31 (32.3%)
- vs. #6 UCLA — 10-of-28 (35.7%)
- vs. #1 Michigan — 4-of-14 (28.6%)
For the tournament, Purdue shot 33.3% from three-point range, yet managed to win four games in four days. That's how good the Boilermakers were in the post, and how much better they played defensively.
Oscar Cluff nearly averaging a double-double
Oscar Cluff looked like the player he was back in November and December, causing so many problems on the interior for every opponent. He was tough, physical and hard-nosed in every game.
The 6-foot-11 senior finished the Big Ten Tournament averaging 17.3 points and 9.5 rebounds across four games. He recorded double-doubles in wins over Northwestern and UCLA and had his best offensive performance in the Championship Game, scoring 21 points.
Cluff has had stretches like that before, but he hadn't put together a run like that in several weeks. To do it in four straight days is quite a feat for a big man, too.
Get top Boilermakers stories, expert analysis, and can't-miss moments straight to your inbox for free by signing up for the Purdue Boilermakers on SI newsletter!
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.
Follow SchutteDustin