By Katherine Silva
Medill Reports
Minutes into the Big Ten Tournament championship, struggling to find his shot, Purdue’s Braden Smith tore off his No. 3 jersey “superman-style” in frustration.
An hour later, after a tough and-1, Smith was flexing to the Boilermaker crowd in a nameless No. 41 substitute jersey. Shortly after that, he was hoisting the Big Ten Tournament trophy.
The No. 18 Boilermakers knocked off the regular-season champion, No. 3 Michigan, on Sunday in the Big Ten Tournament Championship 80-72, earning a two seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region on Selection Sunday. Their bid came within the hour following their win.
“We’re playing well at the right time,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
Purdue, on its fourth straight day of basketball, still started the game with intensity. The Boilermakers’ second possession was a side-step three from Fletcher Loyer, and their third an Oscar Cluff dunk off a Smith steal. Purdue’s energy, however, couldn’t create separation early — the score knotted 38-38 at the break before the Boilermakers took control in the second half.
After switching to No. 41, Smith put up 14 points and had three steals, but his 11 assists was the standout stat. Smith is now one assist shy from tying the NCAA record of 1,076, set by Duke’s Bobby Hurley in 1993. He will now have to wait until the NCAA Tournament to break it.
Smith’s numbers didn’t come alone — seven of his 11 assists went to fellow senior Trey Kaufman-Renn, who finished with 20 points.
“We just clicked,” Smith said. “Obviously he trusts me to get it to him, and I trust him to catch it and then obviously go make a play or make passes or score out of it.”
Purdue seniors Loyer, Smith and Kaufman-Renn are all four-year seniors, a rare feat in the name, image and likeness era of college sports.
“For their three seniors that have been together for a long time, it looks like they really found something deep,” Michigan coach Dusty Day said.
That chemistry will now be on full display in the NCAA Tournament. Purdue is set to play Queens University of Charlotte in St. Louis for the first round Friday.
The Wolverines, while unable to defend their Big Ten Tournament title, still boast the No. 3 overall seed going into the NCAA Tournament. But the loss will linger – at least for now.
“I think we have to feel this pain right now. We gotta use it for the next month,” Michigan center Aday Mara said. “We know the month that we have ahead, so we just got to be ready and be better.”
Michigan will play Howard on Thursday in Buffalo, New York.
Katherine Silva is a sports media specialization graduate student at Medill.