'He's one of those guys': Braden Smith is flirting with Purdue basketball history

WEST LAFAYETTE — Braden Smith pulled one over on a crowd of 14,876 all chanting his name.

First it was, "We want Braden" and it evolved into a more casual "Bra-den Smi-ith."

With 5:50 remaining in No. 1 Purdue basketball's 99-67 win over Texas Southern, Smith came off the bench and ran towards the scorer's table to an eruption from the Mackey Arena faithful.

Smith then turned around and walked back to his seat on the bench, a moment that even caused Matt Painter, a coach who is mostly all business during the 40 minutes of play, to break character.

"That was on him. I thought that was pretty good on his part," Painter said. "I had nothing to do with it. I saw him and where the hell are you going? There's a process here. You can't just do this on your own."

Smith and his teammates already were pleading their case to let Smith re-enter a game he exited with 10:32 to go and never returned.

At the time, Smith thought he was two rebounds shy of a triple-double. After a stat correction later, it turns out Smith's final stat line of 19 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in 26 minutes was one board shy of what would've been the second triple-double in program history.

To date, Joe Barry Carroll's 16 points, 16 rebounds and 11 blocks in a win at Arizona on Dec. 10, 1977 stands alone.

"There's nothing wrong if he's still in the game, staying in the game, but once you take somebody out, you don't cheat the game," Painter said.

More: Braden Smith's near triple-double leads Purdue basketball over Texas Southern

Painter wanted it, but not at the expense of a winless team struggling to stay within 30 points of the current No. 1-ranked team in the country.

Smith wanted it and he was checking the stat boards located on each end of Mackey Arena.

"There's a board up there that shows stuff," Smith said. "Everybody as a player looks up there at some point and they know."

Tuesday wasn't the first time this season though that Painter took Smith out as he was approaching a triple-double in a blowout victory.

It happened two-and-a-half weeks earlier against Morehead State, a game where Smith finished with 11 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. That night, Smith became just the third Boilermaker in history with at least 11 points and 11 assists in the same game and the first since Troy Lewis on two occasions in 1988. Bruce Parkinson is the only other.

The reality is, Smith is a rare breed of basketball player.

Once you're on his team, the game comes easy.

"Me and Braden we were playing a lot together over the summer, whether that be open gym, co-rec, we kind of built that chemistry early," said Lance Jones, who had 15 points against Texas Southern Tuesday. "He always tells me to shoot it. When I first got here I wouldn't look to shoot it. I would look to drive it and pass it out. He always gets on me about just shooting."

Smith's best attribute is passing.

His second best attribute? Well, pick any one on a given night.

Smith can shoot, score, rebound and play defense.

Tuesday's game wasn't some fluke or even an anomaly.

Those triple-double flirtations are becoming routine.

More: What we learned about Purdue basketball at the Maui Invitational

Purdue is 7-0. Smith has scored in double figures six times this season, has seven or more rebounds four times and had at least five assists each outing.

Smith is averaging 13 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists. The only other player in the country averaging at least as many points, rebounds and assists is Connecticut's Tristen Newton.

The rebounds, for a 6-foot sophomore point guard, are perhaps the most impressive.

"He's instinctually just a good rebounder," Painter said. "You talk about his passing and his scoring but he just has a nose for the basketball. He's one of those guys."

Those guys are rare. Those guys are special.

Braden Smith is both.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Triple-double threat Braden Smith does it all for Purdue basketball