Braden Smith Posts Career-High Double-Double, No. 21 Purdue Takes Down Toledo
Braden Smith scored a career-high 34 points, dished out 12 assists and led No. 21 Purdue to an important 83-64 victory over Toledo to close out nonconference play on Sunday. The win also snapped a two-game losing streak for the Boilermakers.
Smith shot 12-of-22 from the floor, which included six made 3-pointers in the contest. He was also responsible for four rebounds and had just two turnovers.
"I thought Braden really carried us offensively," Purdue coach Matt Painter said after the game. "We got to get him to stay on the hunt, no matter how they're guarding ball screens."
In a postgame interview with Big Ten Network's Bruce Weber, Smith admitted that he felt "terrible" prior to tipoff on Sunday. He said he was struggling to find the bottom of the bucket in pre-game shoot-around.
Clearly, he got all the bad shots out of his system early.
"Shots were falling and these guys trust me," Smith said. "It makes my job easy."
◽️ 34 PTS
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) December 30, 2024
◽️ 12 AST
Braden Smith is the first @BoilerBall player in program history to have 30+ PTS and 10+ REB in a game 👏#B1GStats x #B1GMBBall pic.twitter.com/N1rQO5X1Ul
Smith was the highlight for Purdue, but it was the "Big 3" that propelled the Boilermakers to a victory over a feisty Toledo squad. Junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn added 23 points and grabbed six rebounds, while junior guard Fletcher Loyer added 17 points, three rebounds and three assists.
The negative? Purdue struggled to find other contributors. Smith, Kaufman-Renn and Loyer accounted for 74 of the team's 83 points in the victory. The Boilermakers didn't get a basket from another player on the team until the 7:36 mark in the first half, when CJ Cox knocked down a shot.
Purdue then went another 15 minutes until another player made any contributions in the scoring column. At the 11:56 mark in the second half, Caleb Furst knocked down a pair of free throws.
But with Smith's effort on Sunday, Purdue didn't need that fourth scorer against Toledo. He was knocking down shots all afternoon, and putting his teammates in great position to score.
In Purdue's final nonconference game of the 2024-25 season, Smith showed everyone why he was selected as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year.
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