Purdue Boilermakers blow past Nebraska Cornhuskers in Big Ten Tournament as Braden Smith inches closer to NCAA assist record

The No. 18 Purdue Boilermakers completely blew past the No. 11 Nebraska Cornhuskers 74-58 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals as guard Braden Smith inched closer to breaking the NCAA’s all-time record for career assists at the United Center on Friday.

Just one day after compiling 16 assists in a win over the Northwestern Wildcats, Smith continued to move the ball around at a high rate by racking up 10 assists to help the Boilermakers blowout Nebraska and clinch a berth in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.

Smith nows sits just 21 assists behind former Duke Blue Devils guard Bobby Hurley as the all-time assist leader in NCAA history. Hurley finished his storied career with 1,076 assists, but Smith (1,055) is on track to break the record in the coming weeks!

Purdue stat leaders

Fletcher Loyer: 19 points, 4 rebounds

C.J. Cox: 12 points, 3 rebounds

Trey Kaufman-Renn: 10 points, 9 rebounds

Braden Smith: 5 points, 10 assists

Nebraska stat leaders

Pryce Sandfort: 15 points, 4 rebounds

Rienk Mast: 11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds

Braden Frager: 8 points

Sam Hoiberg: 5 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists

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