March Madness 2026: Purdue star Braden Smith breaks Bobby Hurley's all-time assist record
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Braden Smith is college basketball’s new assist leader.
The Boilermakers star recorded his second assist of the night early in No. 2 Purdue’s opening-round NCAA tournament matchup with No. 15 Queens on Friday in St. Louis. That marked the 1,077th assist in Smith’s career, which broke longtime Duke star and former Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley's NCAA record.
Smith’s first assist came in the opening minutes, when he hit Oscar Cluff for an easy layup to cap an 11-4 start. He then broke the record a few minutes later when he snuck a pass underneath to Trey Kaufman-Renn, who fought threw contact to make a layup and draw a foul. That sparked a pretty big ovation from the fans sitting behind the Purdue bench before the game continued on.
Smith entered the NCAA tournament just one assist shy of matching Hurley’s record after he had 11 assists in Purdue’s win over Michigan in the Big Ten tournament championship game last week. He ripped his jersey out of frustration early in that contest, too, and had to switch.
Smith has spent his entire career at Purdue. Friday’s game was the 146th of his career with the Boilermakers.
“He was able to stay and keep growing and keep getting better,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said before the tournament, via The Associated Press. “Now he’s chasing history from an individual standpoint. It’s also something that we share with him because these are passes that other people have to make shots. ... You can’t get the record if people can’t make baskets.
“Just because you’re a good passer, you pass to a bunch of bozos that can’t shoot, you’re not getting that award.”
Hurley, by comparison, appeared in 140 career games for Duke from 1989-1993. The former consensus All-American and NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player award winner helped lead the Blue Devils to back-to-back national championships. He was eventually selected by the Sacramento Kings with the No. 7 overall pick in the draft in 1993.
Hurley has spent the last 11 seasons as the head coach at Arizona State. The program split with him earlier this month after his contract expired.
Smith has averaged 14 points and a career-high 9.1 assists per game this season. He won All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year honors last season, and he set the conference’s tournament assist record with 46 last week in Chicago.
Purdue is the No. 2 seed in the West region. Assuming they can close out Queens on Friday, the Boilermakers will then take on either Miami or Missouri in the next round. Arizona is the top seed in the region.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
