By the Numbers: Purdue 89 Wisconsin 73

Purdue’s first game of 2026 turned into a dominant road victory at Wisconsin as the Boilers defeated the Badgers 89-73. With the victory, Braden Smith broke the B1G career assists record previously held by Cassius Winston for the last several years. Purdue moved to 3-0 in the early stages of the B1G race with a three game stretch against Washington, Penn State, and #25 Iowa all at Mackey Arena.

Let’s take a quick look at the game against Wisconsin ‘Behind the Numbers.’

Advertisement

893

With his 12 assists against Wisconsin, Braden Smith’s career assists of 893 becomes the gold standard for the B1G. With 9:22 left in the second half, Smith found Oscar Cluff under the hoop for an easy layup that gave him the B1G record. That passed Michigan State’s Cassius Winston and moved Smith to #19 in NCAA History, just 184 short of the record held by Bobby Hurley (1,076).

20.9

Along with Braden Smith leading the country in assists per game at 9.6, Purdue clocks itself in at 5th overall in the country with 20.9 assists per game. The Boilers are on pace to break their program record of 720 total team assists they achieved during their Final Four run a few seasons ago. To show what kind of offensive efficiency Purdue is operating in, the Boilers had 22 team assists while Wisconsin had just 7. At their pace, Purdue would get to 711 assists in just 34 games (the minimum they would play this season) but would shatter their record by nearly 100 if they get to 39 games overall this season (B1G Championship & the Elite 8).

Advertisement

30%

Over the last several games, it has definitely appeared that Loyer is going through some things with his jump shot behind the arc. A lot of that has to do with the high level of shooting he has established for himself but the numbers back up that struggle. Over the last seven games, Loyer has shot just 30% from behind the arc (15/50). That’s would normally be an issue but Loyer has continued to show confidence in his shot and a willingness and ability…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/numbers-purdue-89-wisconsin-73-020306852.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-01-05 02:03:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.