Doyel: This was Zach Edey’s homecoming trip. But it was Braden Smith’s game.
Braden Smith’s going to need his own homecoming game in two years, and I don’t care where Purdue decides to play it. Westfield High, where he won the IndyStar Mr. Basketball award in 2022? The gym at Grand Park? Maybe an outdoor park somewhere in Westfield. Doesn’t matter. Plenty of time to figure that one out.
The best of the best players these days get a homecoming game during their senior season, and while Braden Smith is still just a sophomore, he’s already one of the best point guards Purdue coach Matt Painter has had in 19 years with the Boilers. Alabama saw it Saturday in Toronto when Smith joined homecoming king Zach Edey to lead No. 4 Purdue past the Crimson Tide 92-86 in a game with NCAA tournament vibes.
Edey had a game worthy of the occasion, scoring 35 points at Coca-Cola Coliseum in front of nearly 100 friends and family from the Toronto area, many wearing gold T-shirts with the word’s Zach’s House printed around a picture of Canada’s iconic maple leaf.
Insider Sam King: Purdue withstands Alabama's shooting in Zach Edey's homecoming
Photo gallery: Purdue basketball vs. Alabama in Toronto
Edey was terrific as always, fouling out Alabama’s best two post players in a game Purdue enjoyed its usual, hard-earned advantage at the foul line — the Boilers were 24-for-28 from the line, while Alabama was 9-for-14 — and it was Edey’s physicality that sparked the pivotal rally late. He wasn’t involved on the play in question, a foul on the perimeter by Alabama guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr., but that was the breaking point for Alabama coach Nate Oats. He flipped out as the foul tally reached 20-8 against Alabama and officials called a technical and the Boilers were awarded two free throws.
Purdue hit both foul shots, part of a 20-4 run that saw the Boilers take their first lead of the game and maintain control the rest of the way.
Braden Smith is the player Painter chose to shoot those free throws, two his career-best 27 points. Smith also led all players with eight assists, grabbed five rebounds and harassed the Alabama backcourt for all of his 37 minutes on the court.
This was Zach Edey’s trip. But it was Braden Smith’s game.
Zach Edey's huge Toronto return
Zach Edey had himself some moments too, of course. His most Purdue-iest moment came during that aforementioned 20-4 run, when Smith missed a jumper and the ball was bouncing out of bounds when Edey scrambled after it, leaping over the line and batting the ball to teammate Mason Gillis, who caught it and in one motion threw a pass over his shoulder and behind his head — unless it was over his head and behind his shoulder — to Myles Colvin for a 3-pointer that gave Purdue a 73-64 lead.
Another cool Edey moment came with 5:54 left when he followed his pump fake with deft footwork for an up-and-under basket against Alabama’s Nick Pringle, one of the two poor souls Edey fouled out Saturday. No foul called on this one, but the basket tied Edey with Robbie Hummel for 10th on the Boilers’ all-time scoring list with 1,772 points.
On the Fox broadcast, the color analyst was talking about Edey and noting that “(some) people say he’s good just because he’s big. That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.”
The color analyst? Robbie Hummel.
Edey dropped Hummel into 11th on the school scoring chart minutes later with his seventh and final dunk of the game, part of nine consecutive Purdue points for Edey.
After the game Hummel interviewed Edey on the court, and congratulated him on the win “and on passing me in the top 10.”
Edey smiled and walked into the embrace of his mom, who came down from the bleachers wearing one of those gold T-shirts and holding one for Edey to put on over his jersey. It draped off him, swallowing whole the biggest body in college basketball — either the largest T-shirt ever made, or a regulation-size fitted sheet.
Moments earlier, speaking with Hummel on Fox, Edey had tried to explain what this moment meant for him — a Canadian-born kid who grew up playing hockey and baseball, left home as a high school junior to refine his basketball skills at the IMG Academy in Florida, and returned Saturday for his first hometown game in nearly six years. And in that game he lead Purdue past a fellow No. 1 seed in the 2023 NCAA tournament.
“Can’t even put it into words,” Edey said. “Come home, defend home court — this isn’t Purdue’s home court, this is my home court. So it means a little bit more to me.”
And then Hummel did what he had to do. He asked Edey about the guy who barged into the headline of this story.
Hummel asked Edey about Braden Smith.
Braden Smith's dominant second half
Alabama did what other teams have done. The Crimson Tide double-teamed Edey when he had the ball, trying to get it out of his hands, and rolled under his perimeter ball screens to slow his momentum to the basket. The strategy can work, unless Braden Smith does what he does. And then, if you’re Alabama, you’re completely out of luck.
Smith was so good that, along with Edey, Purdue didn’t need much else. That duo outscored Alabama 36-31 in the final 17½ minutes, with Smith posting 19 points, four rebounds and four assists in the second half. Painter has several options at point guard to give Smith a break, but didn’t use any of them in the second half. Smith played all 20 of those minutes, and a game-high 37 total.
In the second half he was hunting his shots, running the pick-and-roll with Edey and pulling up for 3-pointers when his defender chose the route under the screen — Smith took 14 shots in the second half alone, and was 3-for-6 on 3-pointers — but finding Edey when he was rolling to the rim against just one defender.
“His confidence — he was so assertive,” Edey said when Hummel asked about the improvement of Smith. “He’s always been really good, but you saw him coming out, looking for his shot today. He helped us out with some really big moments.”
Smith, who came into the game as the only player in the country averaging 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds per game, scored 15 in the final 10:55 to up his season scoring average to 13.2 ppg. He used two Edey screens for 3-pointers, dribbled into another 3-point heat check with 2:15 left — yup, still smokin’ — and attacked the Alabama defense for a layup high off the glass.
Smith also hit the final two free throws with three seconds left to seal this win, making for a pleasant flight home from Toronto for Matt Painter to start planning for Smith’s homecoming game in December 2025 — Westfield’s only Mr. Basketball winner returning home in two years as a possible All-American and definite all-time Purdue great.
Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Braden Smith sparks Purdue past Alabama in Zach Edey's Toronto return
