WEST LAFAYETTE — Welcome to Braden Smith‘s playground.
That’s Smith’s wording.
As Purdue basketball‘s senior point guard chases NCAA immortality, a career record for assists that hasn’t been threatened since Bobby Hurley graduated from Duke in 1993, the description certainly fits.
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Why he could be the one to ultimately surpass Hurley’s mark of 1,076 career assists is as much about who Purdue coaches have surrounded him with as it is about Smith’s ability to set up teammates.
“We have a lot of different options,” Smith said. “We have a lot of people who can score in many different ways. I’m in a little playground just having fun and enjoying my time with whoever I’ve got on the floor.”
On Monday night, during the Boilermakers’ 101-60 win over Kent State, it was redshirt freshman Jack Benter‘s night.
Benter went 7 of 7 from the field, including 6 for 6 from 3, and scored 20 points. He’s the third Purdue player this season to score at least 20 points without missing a field goal attempt.
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In 13 games, Purdue has had six different players lead the team in scoring, two of them doing so off the bench. While Smith assisted on only one of Benter’s seven made shots, it still showed the luxury of offensive weapons Smith and the Boilermakers have at their disposal.
“We put people in binds in terms of how they’re going to stop us because of all the skill around,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
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What transpired with Benter, who now has made 10 consecutive 3s spanning Purdue’s last three games, was organic. Much was the case with C.J. Cox against Minnesota, Gicarri Harris against Auburn or Oscar Cluff against Marquette.
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Purdue runs sets to get opportunities for Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer, who each average a team-best 14 points per game. Cluff occasionally gets a post up called for him.
Almost everything that comes offensively beyond that is feel. Find the hot hand or the open shooter. Take what the defense gives you, Painter has consistently repeated.
Purdue ranks first in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating, averaging 129 points per 100 possessions, and the Boilermakers are doing it with variety.
Throughout a career where Smith has racked up 881 assists, he’s done so with teams that had a clear cut No. 1 scoring option. Two years of Zach Edey and then Kaufman-Renn last season.
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Through 13 games, 12 of them victories, the Boilers have four players averaging at least 11.4 points per game. All nine regular rotation players average at least 5.4 and each has scored in double figures at least three times this season.
On a night where Omer Mayer scored just three points Monday, the freshman had five assists. Five Boilermakers scored in double figures and Purdue shot better than 56%.
“You need a lot of guys that can shoot the ball well and a lot of guys that can create for others,” Loyer said.
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This team doesn’t have some unstoppable force night in and night out.
It does have a rotation of nine players who all are capable of being Purdue’s leading scorer on any given night, including Smith. The senior point guard has led the Boilers in scoring four times this season, more than any other player.
That variety has aided Smith, who also leads the nation in assists and assists per game.
“Anybody on a given night can give that type of performance,” Smith said. “I think it’s fun that, one, we’re winning so that’s fun, but two, just seeing different guys because they all work hard, too. Seeing their work come out and develop, it benefits all of us.”
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Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue basketball offense balance, stats, Braden Smith assists, leaders
