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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 12: Braden Smith #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers dives to save a ball in the first half against the Northwestern Wildcats during the third round of the 2026 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 12, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Boilers looked dominate in their first game of the B1G Tourney as they defeated Northwestern 81-68 behind the duo of Trey Kaufman-Renn & Oscar Cluff while Braden Smith set an assist record in the B1G Tourney. The defensive effort was a welcome sight considering what Purdue showed over the last several weeks as Purdue coasted in the second half but still showed efficient scoring on the offensive end. The Boilers will take on #2 Nebraska on Friday night at 6:30pm.
Let’s get into the numbers!
16
Braden Smith was a maestro in Purdue’s victory as the senior All American dished out 16 assists. That is a career high and a record for a single game in the B1G Tourney for the player that also now holds the most career assists in the B1G Tourney. With tonight, Smith now stands at 1,045 for his career and is just 31 assists away from the NCAA record held by Bobby Hurley.
19
Purdue got big games from their front line players both Oscar Cluff and TKR dominated from the outset. Northwestern was without their starting center and that forced a lot of mismatches inside but Purdue still had to execute those mismatches for their advantage. The big man duo did just that and it led to a game where Smith was able to be more effective. The big men each had 19 points and combined for 16 rebounds and that led to a +10 rebounding advantage (35-25) and a +20 advantage in point paints (38-18). It was the single biggest reason why Purdue had a dominating victory.
21
Purdue’s defense was as good as it has been all season in the first half. The Boilers played connected and didn’t allow a lot of open shots from any Northwestern player as they limited the Wildcats to just 21 points. That’s the lowest amount for any opponent in a first half for Purdue all season. The rotations that Purdue did get in to were covered up and Purdue did a great job in limiting second chance scoring opportunities when Northwestern did make a shot. Overall, NW was just 10-24 from the floor and didn’t connect on a single three point field goal while allowing only 2 second chance points off 2 offensive rebounds.
The issue was the second half where…
47
Purdue gave up 47. Listen, Northwestern is a really good offensive team when Martinelli and Reid are hitting shots but it was the breakdowns that happened in previous games that suddenly reared their ugly head. Those two combined for 32 in the second half and many of those were open shots or defensive breakdowns. The issues were two fold for the Boilers.
Poor offensive decisions led to Wildkats runouts and poor communication led to wide open shots that went down. Some of it is excusable as Purdue led by 25 with 11 minutes left and went into a bit of cruise control but when focus has been the issue for this team, a complete effort would have been cathartic. Instead, some of that worry will carry over until Purdue simply proves it isn’t a problem.
50%
Omer Mayer has been really, really good the last six games from behind the arc. In fact, Mayer has hit 9/18 for 50% and that is second best of the Boilers over the last six games (Loyer: 21-40, 52.5%). The true freshman has gained confidence throughout the season and the shot making ability that he flashed at the FIBA World Championships is finally coming to fruition. If he is hitting shots at that rate alongside Loyer, Cox, and Smith, Purdue suddenly takes a major step forward offensively.
Omer Mayer knocksdown @BoilerBall
: @BigTenNetworkpic.twitter.com/0hPTbws3c2
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 12, 2026
Overall, the Boilers are 43% from behind the arc the last six games. That’s an incredibly high number as they have hit 61-141 overall in that stretch, but if you remove Benter’s 5-16 & Smith’s 9-31, that average jumps to 50%. It’s not that those two need to shoot less but more that the two who are largely considered two of the better shooters on the roster could stand to improve. That’s a terrifying fact for opponents trying to beat Purdue in a single-game setting if Purdue can roll that level of shooting out on the floor.
3.5
Purdue will enter their quarterfinal matchup with the Nebraska Cornhuskers as a 3.5 point favorite. Purdue beat Nebraska earlier in the season in Lincoln, Nebraska but almost had an epically bad collapse. Purdue led by 21 points with just 14:02 left in the second half when Gicarri Harris buried a three. From that point on, it was all Cornhuskers on a 22-5 run over 8 1/2 minutes of game time. Purdue did counter punch to push the lead from 4 back to 14 but a complete meltdown over the final 2:41 found the game going into OT where Purdue escaped with an 80-77 victory.
Purdue has something to prove from that meltdown but also to push themselves squarely into safe position as a 3-seed. Avoiding the 1 seeds as much as possible by getting a 3-seed should be the goal as much as winning the B1G Tourney. That can be done by beating Nebraska for a second time on Friday.
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