Braden Smith missed 12 of the 14 shots he attempted Thursday. That’s unusual and less than ideal for a Purdue team that has a goal of winning the national championship.
Regardless, Purdue won.
The Boilermakers, well short of their so-called A-game, used a 15-2 run in the final seven minutes, right after Memphis took a surprising three-point lead, to turn an unexpected deficit into a comfortable lead they’d never relinquish.
Final score: Purdue 80, Memphis 71.
So Matt Painter’s program avoided the upset and advanced to the title game of the Baha Mar Championship, where they’ll play Texas Tech late Friday on CBS Sports Network [Channel finder] and streamed on CBSSports.com and on the CBS Sports App.
Purdue-Texas Tech tips at 9:30 p.m. ET.
The Boilermakers are listed as 3 1/2-point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Purdue remains No. 2 in Friday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Arizona is No. 1 for the second consecutive day. Texas Tech — after Thursday’s win over Wake Forest in which JT Toppin got 21 points and nine rebounds — is No. 15. So what we’ll get, later Friday down in the Bahamas, is a compelling matchup featuring the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year (Smith) and the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year (Toppin).
It’s the best game on the schedule this weekend.
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For those following Smith’s quest to become the NCAA’s all-time assist leader, he’s averaging 9.0 assists in 33.0 minutes per game after recording 11 against Penny Hardaway’s Tigers. That means the 6-foot guard now has 803 assists in his career, 273 short of the 1,076 Bobby Hurley dished in a legendary four-year career at Duke. At this rate, Smith would break Hurley’s record in 31 more games, specifically in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
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