Braden Smith of Purdue becomes 5th Division I player with 1,000 career assists

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue point guard Braden Smith became the fifth player in Division I history to reach 1,000 assists with his sixth assist against No. 13 Michigan State on Thursday night.

Smith had an assist on the eighth-ranked Boilermakers’ opening basket, a 3-pointer by C.J. Cox. He got his sixth with 6:43 left in the first half on a basket by Trey Kaufman-Renn where goaltending was called.

Smith finished with 10 assists in Purdue’s 76-74 loss.

“He’s a fabulous player,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “Everything he gets he deserves. He’s sacrificed a lot. It’s just an honor to coach him. He’s done a lot for Purdue University.”

Bobby Hurley of Duke (1990-93) holds the D-I record with 1,076 assists. Smith entered averaging 8.7 assists per game. The Boilermakers have three games left before the Big Ten tournament.

Smith surpassed Michigan State’s Cassius Winston (2017-20) for the Big Ten career record earlier this season.

The 6-foot senior was a consensus first-team All-American last season and won the Bob Cousy Award for the top collegiate point guard.

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