In case anyone needs a reminder, Purdue guard Braden Smith is happy to offer one.
“I still can score,” Smith said, “even though I pass a lot.”
Smith’s next choose-your-own-adventure assignment — pass or shoot? — will come when No. 5 Purdue (15-1, 5-0 Big Ten) tips off against Iowa (12-4, 2-3) on Wednesday evening in West Lafayette, Ind.
The Boilermakers will go for their eighth win in a row. They are coming off a 93-85 home victory against Penn State on Saturday in a game that preserved their undefeated Big Ten record.
Smith will look to stay hot after scoring 26 points vs. the Nittany Lions. He has led Purdue in each of his past two games, averaging 24.5 points in that span.
For the season, Smith is averaging 14.1 points and a team-high 9.8 assists per game. He also is averaging 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals.
Smith credited his teammates for his success.
“I have a team around me that supports me and has the confidence in me to go out and make plays and score the basketball or pass them the ball,” he said.
The Boilermakers will need to be sharp against an Iowa squad desperate for a win.
The Hawkeyes have dropped back-to-back conference games against Minnesota and Illinois. They lost by three points in Minneapolis on Jan. 6 before returning home to Iowa City, Iowa, and falling 75-69 to then-No. 16 Fighting Illini on Sunday.
The back-to-back losses mark the first adversity in the tenure of first-year Iowa coach Ben McCollum.
“When we first took this over, it’s like, man, ‘How can they get to a certain point that quickly?'” McCollum said. “People probably still think I’m crazy, but I see it. It’s coming.
“We’re getting there. You see the crowd coming. You see us winning games. Obviously, we dropped two that we probably shouldn’t have. But it’s building, and we’re going to keep fighting for that.”
Bennett Stirtz leads Iowa with an average of 17.6 points per game on 48.2% shooting from the field and 39.4% from 3-point range. He is averaging 5.1 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals to go with his scoring totals.
Tavion Banks ranks second on Iowa with 9.7 ppg on 55.1% shooting from the field. Alvaro Folgueiras rounds out the top three with 9.0 ppg on 53.2% shooting.
McCollum said Iowa needs a balanced scoring attack as defenses target Stirtz.
“We don’t have a lot of leverage on the backside of our ball screens right now, so they’re able to load like crazy,” McCollum said. “So it’s really tricky for (Stirtz) to get a quality shot.”
As for Purdue, three players aside from Smith are averaging in double digits in scoring.
Fletcher Loyer is at 14.0 points per game, and Trey Kaufman-Renn is averaging a double-double with 13.3 points and 10.0 rebounds a game.
Oscar Cluff is not far behind for the Boilermakers with 11.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
“My theory is no one wants to bash their body for 40 minutes,” Cluff said. “So (by) going in the game strong and just doing that from the beginning, obviously over time, your body gets sore. People don’t want to guard you anymore. That’s the theory.”
–Field Level Media
