Boilers Win Big and Smith Nabs Assist Record

[2 seed] Purdue 104, [15 seed] Queens 71 (Postgame Notes)

• 2 seed Purdue advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round with a 104-71 victory over 15th-seeded Queens on Friday night in St. Louis.
• Purdue improved to 28-8 overall and now owns the nation’s ninth-longest winning streak at five games.
• Purdue’s 104 points tied for the second most in an NCAA Tournament game behind the 106 scored vs. Utah State in the 2024 second round.
• Purdue’s 59 points in the second half were the fourth most in an NCAA Tournament game in school history.
• The 63.1 field goal percentage (41-of-65) was the highest for a Purdue team in NCAA Tournament history.
• Purdue’s 1.54 points per possession was the fifth-highest PPP in an NCAA Tournament game in the last 18 tournaments. It’s the sixth-best mark in a game in Purdue history.
• Purdue became the first team in NCAA Tournament history to score 100 points, shoot 60 percent from the field, make at least 10, 3-pointers and outrebound its opponent by 20 or more boards.
• Purdue’s plus-22 (41-19) rebound margin was its third highest in an NCAA tournament game in Purdue history.
• Purdue’s 14 made 3-pointers were the fourth most in an NCAA Tournament game in Purdue history, while the 41 field goals set a new NCAA Tournament record for Purdue.
• Purdue improved to 26-9 in NCAA Tournament first-round games and Matt Painter won his 25^th NCAA Tournament game, now with a 25-17 overall record.
• Purdue improved to 16-3 in games played away from Mackey Arena, including 8-0 in neutral-site games. Purdue is outscoring opponents by 18.0 points per game and shooting 52.2 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from 3-point range in neutral-site contests.
• Purdue has won three straight first-round games by an average of 24.3 points per game. Purdue has not lost in the second round since a 63-60 loss to No. 2 seed Kansas in 2012. Purdue has won six straight second-round games.
• Since the 2017 NCAA Tournament, Purdue is 17-7, tied for fifth-most wins in the country during that span (Gonzaga – 24; Duke – 20; Houston – 20; Kansas – 18).
• Purdue recorded its ninth win of 12 or more points (in 10 wins since the 2022 tournament). The nine wins of 12 or more points are the second most in the country in that span (UConn – 12).
• Purdue’s senior class won its 115^th game of their careers, now just one win off the school-record 116 wins set by last year’s senior class.
• Purdue improved to 23-1 this season when holding opponents to under 48 percent shooting from the field.
• Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn are the first set of teammates to score at least 25 points on 65 percent shooting in the NCAA Tournament since 1999.
• They are the third set of Purdue teammates to score at least 25 points in the same game in an NCAA Tournament game (Carsen Edwards, Ryan Cline vs. Tennessee – 2019 Sweet 16; Glenn Robinson, Cuonzo Martin vs. Kansas – 1994 Sweet 16).
• Braden Smith became the NCAA all-time leader in career assists with 1,083. He scored 26 points with eight assists and three rebounds, going 10-of-15 from the field. He is the first player since Cincinnati’s Steve Logan to have at least 26 points, eight assists, four made 3-pointers and shoot 65 percent from the field in an NCAA Tournament game.
• Smith now needs eight assists to become the third player in NCAA Tournament history to have at least 100 points, 100 assists and 50 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament career (Ed Cota, Aaron Miles). Smith has 124 points, 92 assists and 51 rebounds in NCAA Tournament play. His 92 assists are the 11^th most by a player in NCAA Tournament history.
• Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 25 points with nine rebounds and three assists, going 12-of-18 from the field. Kaufman-Renn moved into 21^st on the school’s career scoring list (1,606 points) and 12^th on the career rebounds list (743).
• Fletcher Loyer scored 14 points, surpassing 100, 3-pointers on the season, now with 102. He now ranks third on the Purdue single-season 3-pointers made list (102). Loyer is now 54-of-112 (.482) from 3-point range since the start of February.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Braden Smith scored 26 points and became the Division I career leader in assists, guiding No. 2 seed Purdue to a 104-71 win over Queens University on Friday night in the NCAA Tournament.

The Boilermakers seized control with a pair of 10-0 runs, once in the waning moments of the first half and in the opening minutes of the second half. Trey Kaufman-Renn’s basket after an offensive rebound capped the second surge and stretched Purdue’s lead to 58-36 with 16:27 to play.

Purdue (28-8) led by at least 20 the rest of the way.

About eight minutes in, Smith handed out his 1,077th career assist, breaking the record previously held by Duke’s Bobby Hurley. The milestone came when Smith, wearing glittering black Nike sneakers, set up a layup by Kaufman-Renn that gave Purdue a 17-12 advantage.

“I don’t think it’s really set in because to me, again, it’s it’s my job. That’s what I’m supposed to do,” Smith said. “It’s why I came here. As a point guard, that’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to get guys the ball to go score. And obviously I have a lot of great people around me that can do that.”

“I’ve been very thankful and blessed to be put in a position where people trust me with the ball in my hands, and my teammates trust me, the coaching staff trusts me, and obviously I trust myself enough to go make shots,” Smith said.

Coach Matt Painter called Hurley “quintessential point guard” and said the fact his record stood for three decades reinforces that.

“He’s a phenomenal player and you can see it on the court, how under control he is,” Queens coach Grant Leonard said of Smith.

Kaufman-Renn contributed 25 points and nine rebounds, and Oscar Cluff had nine points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks for Purdue.

Jordan Watford and Nasir Mann, the younger brother of Charlotte Hornets guard Tre Mann, led the 15th-seeded Royals (21-14) with 10 points apiece.

“It was an unbelievable season,” Leonard said. “Usually only one team ends happy, but our guys can hang their heads high.”

Painter will go for his 500th Purdue victory in the next round of the West Region against either No. 7 seed Miami or 10th-seeded Missouri. The Boilermakers are seeking their third straight trip to round of 16 and seventh in nine years.

The other two years featured quick exits as a No. 2 seed against Saint Peter’s in 2022 and as a No. 1 seed against Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023.

There was no such magic from Queens.

The 1,500-student school from Charlotte, North Carolina, which began as a women’s institute, is the smallest, by enrollment, to ever play in the NCAA Tournament. It won the Atlantic Sun tournament for a spot in the bracket in its first year of Division I eligibility.

“We did a lot. We fought through a lot of adversity, and it’s been unbelievable so far,” Mann said. “I know we didn’t have the outcome we wanted today, but we still did the unbelievable. Coming from a small school, 1,500 students, and we made it.”

The Boilermakers never trailed, making baskets on their first six possessions without much resistance from the nation’s 349th-ranked scoring defense. Still, the Royals stayed within striking distance for much of the first half.

Purdue finally pulled away by scoring 10 straight points, including two 3s and a pair of free throws from C.J. Cox, stretching the lead to 45-30 late in the half. Chris Ashby’s 3-pointer on the final possession for Queens cut the deficit to 12 at intermission.