ST. LOUIS — 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.”Smith finished with eight assists and made 10 of 15 shots as Purdue converted at a 63% clip from the field, including 58% from 3-point range.“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 Gra …
