WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Braden Smith has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the nation’s top point guard, announced today by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Smith, who is looking to become the first back-to-back recipient of the Cousy Award, is joined by Big Ten counterparts Bennett Stirtz (Iowa) and Jeremy Fears Jr. (Michigan State) on the list. The other seven players include Labaron Philon (Alabama), Jaden Bradley (Arizona), Darius Acuff (Arkansas), Kingston Flemings (Houston), Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State), Christian Anderson (Texas Tech) and Tyler Tanner (Vanderbilt).
Smith has faced off against four of the other 10 semifinalists and will square off with Jeremy Fears Jr., and Michigan State on Feb. 26. In the four games, Smith is averaging 16.5 points, 6.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 22-of-44 (.500) from the field, 8-of-14 (.571) from deep and 14-of-17 (.824) from the free throw line.
For the season, Smith is averaging 15.3 points, 8.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.0 percent from the field, 43.5 percent from 3-point range (40-of-92) and 78.7 percent from the free throw line (48-of-61).
In Big Ten play, Smith has been even better, averaging 18.5 points, 8.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 56.1 percent from the field (78-of-139), 50.0 percent from 3-point range (26-of-52) and 88.0 percent from the free throw line (22-of-25).
Smith recently moved into the top 10 on the NCAA career assists list (954) and is now one of five players in NCAA history with 1,700 career points and 950 assists. He is the only one of the five to have at least 500 rebounds and Smith has 615 career boards.
Smith was a unanimous first-team All-American last season and was the recipient of the Cousy Award, looking to become the first repeat winner.
Smith and the Boilermakers will face Oregon on Saturday in Mackey Arena, beginning at 1 p.m. ET.