Chicago, IL — The Purdue Boilermakers used a dominant inside performance and a historic night from Braden Smith to defeat the Northwestern Wildcats 81–68 on Thursday, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
Smith orchestrated Purdue’s offense with 16 assists, moving into second place on the NCAA’s all-time career assists list. The senior now has 1,045 assists in 142 games, passing former standouts Ed Cota and Chris Corchiani. The record is still held by Bobby Hurley, who tallied 1,076 assists while playing for the Duke Blue Devils from 1989 to 1993.
Purdue received strong scoring efforts from Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff, who each finished with 19 points. Cluff also collected 10 rebounds as the Boilermakers controlled the interior. Purdue outrebounded Northwestern 35–23 and dominated the paint, holding a 38–18 edge in points near the basket.
The Boilermakers built their advantage early. A 15–3 run midway through the first half helped Purdue stretch its lead to 38–15 with less than six minutes remaining before halftime. Kaufman-Renn ignited the surge with a basket inside, and Omer Mayer capped it with a fast-break layup following a Northwestern turnover.
Another inside score from Kaufman-Renn pushed Purdue’s lead to 45–21 at halftime. The Boilermakers controlled the lane throughout the opening half, outscoring the Wildcats 22–6 in the paint.
Northwestern, which had reached the third round with wins over the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Indiana Hoosiers earlier in the tournament, was led by Nick Martinelli with 25 points. Jayden Reid added 19 points and nine assists.
The Wildcats were again without 6-foot-11 forward Arrinten Page, who missed his fourth straight game because of illness. His absence was noticeable as Purdue controlled the boards and consistently scored around the rim.
Purdue’s strong start contrasted sharply with the teams’ regular-season meeting earlier in March, when the Boilermakers trailed at halftime before rallying for a narrow victory.
Next up, Purdue will face the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the quarterfinals on Friday. Nebraska, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, advanced directly to the round after receiving a bye through the opening three rounds.
