{"id":170640,"date":"2026-03-21T15:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T15:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/170640\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T15:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T15:04:10","slug":"braden-smith-sets-all-time-ncaa-assist-mark-no-2-seed-purdue-rolls-past-queens-into-second-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/170640\/","title":{"rendered":"Braden Smith sets all-time NCAA assist mark; No. 2 seed Purdue rolls past Queens into second round"},"content":{"rendered":"

St. LOUIS\u00a0\u2013 Braden\u00a0Smith\u2019<\/a>s\u00a0first assist\u00a0as a Boilermaker\u00a0was to Trey Kaufman-Renn<\/a>\u00a01,228 days\u00a0ago inside Mackey Arena during the 2022-23 season opener against Milwaukee.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was only fitting that the NCAA record-breaking assist was delivered to Kaufman-Renn on Friday night in\u00a0West\u00a0Region\u00a0first-round action against Queens\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith put his name in the record book,\u00a0paving\u00a0the way for second-seeded and\u00a0eighth-ranked Purdue to begin pulling away from the Royals\u00a0for a 104-71 victory at the Enterprise Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PDF: Purdue-Queens statistics<\/a><\/p>\n

PURDUE COACH MATT PAINTER<\/p>\n

PURDUE\u2019S FLETCHER LOYER<\/p>\n

PURDUE\u2019S OSCAR CLUFF<\/p>\n

The Boilermakers will face No. 7 seed Miami (Fla.), an 80-66 winner over No. 10 seed Missouri, in Sunday\u2019s second round (12:10 p.m. ET, CBS). The winner advances to the West Region semifinals in San Jose.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the opening tip, big man Oscar Cluff <\/a>handed out assists like candy on Halloween. His first assist went to Smith, followed by a sharp pass to Fletcher Loyer,<\/a> who buried a 3-pointer. Cluff fed Kaufman-Renn and Purdue had a quick 7-2 advantage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Smith settled into his game. He found Cluff inside to tie Duke standout Bobby Hurley\u2019s record and broke the mark\u00a0by flipping a bounce pass to Kaufman-Renn, who was cutting down the lane. Kaufman-Renn was fouled with 12:11 left before halftime.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hurley\u2019s record of 1,076 assists stood 33 years before Smith began his assault on the mark four\u00a0seasons\u00a0and 146 games ago on that Tuesday\u00a0night\u00a0in West Lafayette.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the Boilermakers\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0shake the 15th-seeded Royals until late in the first half. Purdue\u00a0parlayed\u00a0a 12-2 run, including\u00a010 straight points\u00a0to\u00a0open\u00a0a 45-30 advantage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matt Painter\u2019s team\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0hold its first double-digit lead until 1:52 remaining until halftime.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Boilermakers started the second half on an 11-3 run, capped by Loyer\u2019s 3-pointer with 17:15 to play, forcing a timeout by the Royals (21-14).\u00a0\u00a0Purdue expanded the stretch to 20-5, putting Queens in a hole it couldn\u2019t recover from.<\/p>\n

Purdue made its first six field goal\u00a0attempts en route to shooting 63.1%, the highest for the program in NCAA tournament history. <\/p>\n

Queens, making its first NCAA tournament appearance in its first year of eligibility,\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0handle Cluff and Kaufman-Renn inside. The pair physically dominated the smaller Royals\u00a0on the\u00a0boards\u00a0and in the paint.<\/p>\n

Smith poured in a game-high 26 points, and Kaufman-Renn added 25. The pair combined to hit 22 of 33 from the field. Smith finished with eight assists, continuing his solid postseason run, including last weekend\u2019s Big Ten tournament. Loyer added 14 points, and C.J. Cox<\/a> had 11. Loyer and Cox combined for seven 3-pointers.<\/p>\n

Cluff pulled down 11 boards as the Boilermakers owned the rebounding 41-19. <\/p>\n

The Royals needed to shoot a high rate from 3-point range to counter Purdue\u2019s balanced offense, but managed just 7 of 25 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

\u201cA LITTLE SURREAL\u201d <\/p>\n

Painter had to take a step back and soak up the idea that Kaufman-Renn was Smith\u2019s first assist\u00a0in the season opener in November 2022\u00a0and the record-breaker.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA little surreal,\u201d Painter said. \u201cThe guy that gets his first assist gets the assist to break the record. It was great to see.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kaufman-Renn had to adapt his game to Smith\u2019s passing\u00a0skills,\u00a0and the two worked together for\u00a0numerous\u00a0hours perfecting the chemistry to make it effective over the long haul. They\u2019ve\u00a0grown together since Smith arrived on campus,\u00a0and Kaufman-Renn\u00a0was coming off his redshirt season, eager to play for the first time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kaufman-Renn modeled his game, knowing \u201cI\u2019m going to have the best ballhandler in college basketball\u00a0history on my team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0the same thing we had Zach\u00a0(Edey)\u00a0on our team, and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0the advice\u00a0coach\u00a0gave me.\u00a0You know\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0going to play.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0such\u00a0a great player.\u00a0So,\u00a0you have to be able to fit with those guys.\u00a0So,\u00a0when you have such special players, just being able to model your game around them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Smith, the moment\u00a0likely won\u2019t\u00a0fully set in until after Purdue\u2019s tournament run ends, the hectic schedule slows\u00a0down,\u00a0and\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0able to\u00a0filter through the emotions of what\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0accomplished.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0really set in, because to me,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0my job,\u201d said Smith, who now has 1,083 career\u00a0assists. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0what\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0supposed to do.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0why I came here.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a\u00a0point\u00a0guard,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0supposed to do.\u00a0You\u2019re\u00a0supposed to get guys the ball to go score, and obviously, I have a lot of great people around me who can do that. For me,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0my job to put them in positions\u00a0to\u00a0score.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Queens coach Grant Leonard has nothing but praise for Smith and what\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0achieved. Leonard said Smith\u2019s decision-making, while under control, stands out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a phenomenal player, and you could see it on the court how under control he is,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cI think he\u00a0probably has\u00a0the highest basketball IQ in the country\u00a0to\u00a0go along with the\u00a0toughness and you\u2019re\u00a0not even talking about the skill yet.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Smith sat next to Painter in the postgame press conference, he listened as his coach rattled\u00a0off the\u00a0accomplishments, the\u00a0great players\u00a0he passed\u00a0on his way to the top, and tried to encapsulate what he\u2019s\u00a0meant to the program.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an unbelievable feat,\u201d Painter said.\u00a0\u201cEspecially from the great Bobby Hurley, who we were in the same\u00a0grade,\u00a0and he was just the quintessential point guard and winner at Duke University when he played and had a fabulous coaching career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for him to have that honor for 33 years just speaks to how great Bobby Hurley was. And you look at the other guys that are right behind him\u00a0\u2026\u00a0it\u2019s a\u00a0big-time\u00a0achievement.\u00a0Happy\u00a0for him and excited about advancing in this tournament and having some fun.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

LOCKED IN EARLY<\/p>\n

\u00a0Add Friday\u2019s production to the list of efficient performances the Boilermakers have\u00a0showcased\u00a0this season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It marked the third game shooting over 60% this season and the 16th\u00a0time surpassing the 50% threshold.\u00a0The end result\u00a0was established by Purdue\u2019s quick start.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought our guys were ready to play,\u201d Painter said. \u201cOur starters were\u00a0pretty locked\u00a0in. Fletch\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0get many looks there and\u00a0opened up\u00a0more in the second half.\u00a0TK did some good\u00a0things, and Braden played well.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Purdue\u2019s points per possession were a robust 1.844 in the second half and 1.552 for the game. <\/p>\n

\u201cHE\u2019S BEEN A LOAD\u201d<\/p>\n

Cluff\u2019s retained his form after a strong showing at the Big Ten tournament.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He had three of his five assists early, dominated the rebounding, and was a force inside at both ends. Purdue needs Cluff to\u00a0maintain\u00a0his level if the Boilermakers are going to make a deep run.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cluff totaled nine points, 11 rebounds and matched his season high with four blocked shots.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOscar had a three, four-week run where he wasn\u2019t as effective as he was early in the year, and the last two, three weeks he\u2019s been a load,\u201d Painter said. \u201cWe need him on the glass, we need\u00a0him\u00a0defensively, and we need him\u00a0to score that ball down low when they stay home on our shooters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The presence of Cluff and Kaufman-Renn allowed the Boilermakers to take advantage of the open looks on the perimeter, draining 14\u00a0of 24 from 3-point range.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St. LOUIS\u00a0\u2013 Braden\u00a0Smith\u2019s\u00a0first assist\u00a0as a Boilermaker\u00a0was to Trey Kaufman-Renn\u00a01,228 days\u00a0ago inside Mackey Arena during the 2022-23 season opener…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-170640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}