WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – After leading the Boilermakers to a 2-0 week, Purdue guard Braden Smith was named co-Big Ten Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon.
Smith averaged 24.5 points, 10.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game in wins over Washington and Penn State. He shot 21-of-33 (.636) from the field, 5-of-10 (.500) from 3-point range and 2-of-3 (.667) from the free throw line.
In the win over Washington last Wednesday, Smith scored 23 points with seven assists and three steals, while going 10-of-15 from the field, in just 28 minutes.
Then in Saturday’s win over Penn State, Smith tallied 26 points with 14 assists and two steals, while going 11-of-18 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3-point range. He became the first Big Ten player in at least 20 years to have at least 26 points and 14 assists in the same game. He had just one turnover in 39 minutes.
It marks his third Big Ten Player of the Week honor of the season and fourth in his career. He is the only player to win multiple Big Ten Player of the Week honors this season.
For the year, Smith is averaging 14.1 points, 9.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, while shooting 48.0 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from 3-point range.
In five conference games, Smith is averaging 18.8 points, 10.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 steals while shooting 57.8 percent form the field and 50.0 percent from 3-point range.
Smith recently became the Big Ten’s career leader in assists (914) and needs just 163 assists to set the NCAA career record for assists.
Smith and the No. 5-ranked Boilermakers will host Iowa on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET, in Mackey Arena.