Matt Painter on Success of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer: 'They'll Be Linked Together Forever'
Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer are only midway through their junior seasons at Purdue, but the backcourt duo has already accomplished quite a bit in West Lafayette. Because of that success, coach Matt Painter says the two guards will forever be linked together.
On Thursday night, Smith became the latest Boilermaker to reach 1,000 career points, putting up 20 in an 81-61 win over Minnesota. Loyer is poised to be the next to hit that milestone, needing just 13 points to eclipse 1,000 in his career.
Saturday, Painter was asked about the two guards hitting the impressive milestone in the same season. And while it's undoubtedly a great achievement, he says it's even better because of the number of wins the two have earned.
"They've been really good, productive players for us. They're very intelligent, they understand, they have a lot of experience," Painter said. "To have the numbers that those guys have, they still have a lot of games to play in their career, it's pretty special.
"But the numbers that are the best are the wins. A lot of times, guys can have some numbers in college, but then they don't put wins behind it. Those guys are having some pretty good numbers but they're being really successful."
All Smith and Loyer have done since arriving at Purdue is win. The two have started in all 88 career games (heading into Sunday's game against Northwestern) and have helped lead the Boilers to two Big Ten regular season titles. Purdue also won the 2023 Big Ten Tournament championship and reached the National Championship Game in 2024.
So far, the backcourt duo has accumulated a 73-15 record, which amounts to an .829 winning percentage.
Smith and Loyer came to Purdue together, have started every game together and have won a lot of games together. That's why Painter believes the two guards will also be tied to each other, like some of the other all-time great tandems in Purdue basketball history.
"They're into the game, they know what the hell is going on, they're competitive and they play to win," Painter said. "They're two guys that will be linked together forever. You see that with certain people throughout Purdue history.
"Guys that come in and play right away like a Troy Lewis, Todd Mitchell, Everette Stephens. Chad Austin and Brad Miller. They'll be linked together, because those guys have great careers, but they also do a lot of winning."
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