Braden Smith rebounds from sluggish 1st half to help No. 5 Purdue find its footing in win over Iowa

By Canadian Press on January 14, 2026.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Braden Smith blamed himself for No. 5 Purdue’s first-half struggles Wednesday.

The preseason All-American responded by reverting to his familiar form the rest of the way.

One week after the senior guard started the second half on the bench for the first time in his career, Smith delivered a dazzling final 20 minutes at Mackey Arena in a 79-72 victory over Iowa that could go a long way toward the Boilermakers capturing another conference crown.

“I had a horrible first half,” Smith said after scoring all 16 of his points after halftime. “For me it was like, understanding I can’t let these guys down because we have goals and one of them, obviously, is to win the Big Ten championship. So we can’t afford to lose a game at home. I woke up, too. That helps.”

Smtih figured it out in time to rally the Boilermakers (16-1, 6-0 Big Ten) from a nine-point second-half deficit to avoid a second home loss to an Iowa team. Iowa State routed the Boilermakers on the same court last month.

His second-half totals: 6 of 7 from the field, 4 for 4 from the free-throw line, four assists and no turnovers while never coming out. Purdue missed only one shot from the field in the final 10 1/2 minutes.

And when Purdue needed Smith defensively, he got the job done. He forced a series of key turnovers midway through the second half, fueling the run that got Purdue back into the game and then back into the lead.

After that, there was nothing first-year Iowa coach Ben McCollum could do to slow down Smith or Purdue.

“He’s the one that’s kind of the quarterback of the team,” McCollum said. “Obviously, he’s a really good player who does a lot for them.”

Smith faced a similar scenario in last week’s victory over Washington.

He drew three first-half fouls, which put him on the bench for a nine-minute stretch straddling halftime. Smith also rebounded that night with a stronger second-half showing.

This time, he didn’t need any advice about what he needed to fix.

“I had three turnovers, (and) a blocked shot they had on me so I would count that as four because they got the ball,” Smith said. “They shot 70% from 3-point range from guys, respectfully, who don’t usually make 3s and like, that’s also part of it. Guys are going to have nights like that and then we’ve got to take care of the ball offensively and just do our job.”

Smith’s recovery was so complete, Purdue coach Matt Painter simply turned his best player loose offensively and defensively as Smith and his teammates turned up the heat on the Hawkeyes with a blistering shooting percentage of 72.7%. The difference was Smith.

“Braden has confidence, so he likes every matchup,” Painter said. “But it was just letting him play in transition, letting him play with the ball there and then making reads. I thought a big part of our surge back at about the 15-minute mark was when Braden came right out and hit a pull-up (jumper). Then he gets to the basket. We needed him to get going and, obviously, he did.”

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Michael Marot, The Associated Press

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