No. 1 Michigan and No. 6 Purdue faced off in a top-10 showdown on Tuesday night at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.
Two of the best teams in the nation battled in a high-stakes Big Ten Conference showdown. In the first few minutes, Purdue star Braden Smith notched an assist, putting him into the top five in all-time assists in NCAA history.
Here is what the list looked like after Smith moved into No. 5:
9️⃣8️⃣4️⃣
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) February 17, 2026
Into the top 5 on the NCAA career assists list. pic.twitter.com/IN3W6sT31Z
Smith entered the game just 97 assists away from Hurley’s record, so there is a slim chance he finishes the year on top of the list.
Entering Tuesday’s game, Smith had back-to-back games with double-digit assists, including 12 in a 78-57 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
Smith has spent his entire college career with Purdue, and he has been an instrumental part of the team’s success every year. Entering Tuesday, Smith is averaging 14.7 points with 8.9 assists (career-high) along with 4.0 rebounds per game.
The Purdue basketball team came into the top-10 showdown with a 21-4 record and winners of four straight after a surprising three-game losing streak at the end of January.
Purdue has five games left in the regular season before the Big Ten Conference tournament and then the NCAA Tournament, so it will be worth watching to see if Smith can break Hurley’s record.
