In the absence of Zach Edey, Braden Smith was always expected to emerge this season as Purdue’s top player and best All-America candidate. In a tighter-than-it-should’ve-been game against Yale on Monday, the junior point guard performed to those expectations, finishing with 22 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five steals in a 92-84 victory that extended the Boilermakers’ home-winning streak to 21.
“He’s a fabulous player,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter. “Best point guard I’ve been around.”
The good news for the reigning Big Ten champs is that they’re off to a 3-0 start while Smith is posting career-high numbers in points (15.0), assists (9.3), rebounds (6.3), field goal percentage (45.2%), 3-point percentage (44.4%) and free-throw percentage (90.0). The not-so-good news is that Smith’s 6.3 rebounds per contest make him the team’s leader in that category, and a 6-foot point guard should never be leading any team in rebounding.
“We gotta get some glass-eaters,” Painter said. “We gotta get some guys hitting some people and going and getting the basketball.”
In Edey, Purdue had one of the best so-called glass-eaters in the sport. The 7-4 center averaged a combined 12.5 rebounds per game over the past two years while winning back-to-back Wooden Awards. But now Edey is eating glass for the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA, and Daniel Jacobsen, a 7-4 freshman who was among those expected to help fill the void, is likely out for the season after breaking his tibia in Friday’s win over Northern Kentucky.
It’s not ideal.
And that’s why Painter spent a good portion of Monday’s postgame press conference lamenting things like the fact that his team only grabbed five offensive rebounds against Yale. Even more concerning, Purdue’s five starters combined to get just two offensive boards in 126 combined minutes on the court.
“We just gotta stay with it,” Painter said.
Purdue is No. 10 in Tuesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Kansas remains No. 1 for the ninth straight day to start this season. The Boilermakers’ next game will be a step up in competition — specifically a showdown on Friday with Alabama that could have Purdue’s 21-game winning streak inside Mackey Arena in some jeopardy.
The Crimson Tide are No. 2 in the Top 25 And 1.
“[Alabama has] great players, man,” Painter said. “They’re all great players — the guys who transferred in, the guys who returned. [The Crimson Tide’s] backups could venture out and be a Top 25 team. They’re real.”
