College basketball rankings: Purdue clashes with Texas Tech for the Baha Mar title
Braden Smith missed 12 of 14 shots he attempted Thursday. This is unusual and less than ideal for a Purdue team aiming to win the national championship.
Regardless, Purdue won.
The Boilermakers, well short of the so-called A game, used a 15-2 run in the final seven minutes, right after Memphis’ surprise three-point run, to turn an unexpected deficit into a comfortable lead they would never relinquish.
Final score: Purdue 80, Memphis 71.
So The Matt Painter Show avoided the upset and advanced to the main Baha Mar championship game, where they will play Texas Tech late Friday on CBS Sports Network. [Channel finder] And flow on CBSSports.com And on 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 CBS Sports’ updated Daily Top 25 and 1 rankings Friday morning, as Arizona is No. 1 for the second straight day. Texas Tech — coming off Thursday’s win over Wake Forest in which JT Toupin had 21 points and nine rebounds — sits at No. 15. So what we’ll get, later Friday in the Bahamas, is a compelling matchup featuring the Big Ten’s reigning player of the year (Smith). and Top 12 Player of the Year (Tobin).
It’s the best match on the agenda this weekend.
College basketball grades: Evaluating early returns on offseason promises from UNC, UConn, and more top contenders
Isaac Trotter
For those following Smith’s quest to become the NCAA’s assists leader, he is averaging 9.0 assists in 33.0 minutes per game after recording 11 assists against Penny Hardaway’s Tigers. That means the 6-foot guard now has 803 career assists, 273 fewer than the 1,076 assists Bobby Hurley provided in a legendary four-year career at Duke. At this rate, Smith will break Hurley’s record in 31 more games, specifically in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.