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NCAAM Men's March Madness LIVE 19m ago Braden Smith ended his four-year Purdue career as the NCAA's all-time assists leader. Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images The Athletic has live coverage of Tennessee vs. Michigan and UConn vs. Duke in the March Madness Elite Eight. SAN JOSE, Calif. — As time wound down, Braden Smith was about to dribble the ball for the last time in a Purdue uniform. He had a moment with coach Matt Painter, who encouraged him to play on. For one last time, Smith knifed his way to the basket and kicked the ball out to Fletcher Loyer for a 3-pointer. Splash. Advertisement It was a fitting end for the NCAA’s career assist leader and Purdue’s career leader in 3-pointers, even in defeat to top-seeded Arizona in the NCAA Tournament’s West Regional Final on Saturday. Smith, Loyer and forward Trey Kaufman-Renn are set to graduate, and all three are likely to get a shot at the NBA. Their careers stand out for their continuity. Only 22 high-major scholarship seniors are set to graduate from the same university where they started. Purdue had three of them. “They got the most wins in school history. They got the most tournament wins in school history. They got two Big Ten championships. They got two Big Ten tournament titles, ” Painter said. “You know, they showed up every day and worked. That’s what you want. A lot of people look at it like, it can’t keep happening in today’s landscape, but these guys proved that it can. ” The group was remarkably consistent, winning at least 24 games every season and reaching 29 three out of the four years. The Boilermakers were a No. 1 seed twice and top-four seed every year. But the three seniors’ careers were also defined by NCAA Tournament heartbreak. In 2023, Purdue became the second team to lose to a No. 16 seed as a No. 1 seed. The Boilermakers rolled through the tournament the next season but fell short to a dominant UConn team in the national championship. In 2025, No. 2 Houston scored a buzzer-beating layup to take a 62-60 win in the Sweet 16. “You’ve got to experience failure, ” said Kaufman-Renn, who sent Purdue to the Elite Eight with a last-second tip-in against Texas. “You see these guys at their highest, and you get to see them at their lowest and how a group of coaches and staff can overcome adversity and continue to trust guys that failed. “You get to a Final Four and national championship, and you’re at your highest. So then you lose that, and it’s, ‘What are you going to do? You’re going to quit? ’ And I think just seeing a group of guys, a staff that just continues to push through adversity and not quit on one another, is just a great lesson that I’ve learned in four years. ” Advertisement The Elite Eight loss to Arizona in San Jose didn’t have the same heartbreak as the others, even if it was a disappointing end for a team that started the season ranked No. 1. Arizona has looked dominant the entire tournament. Purdue led at halftime 38-31 thanks to great outside shooting, but the Wildcats came alive in the second half and outscored the Boilermakers by 22 points en route to a 79-64 win. “I was just trying to enjoy that moment with guys that I’ve battled with for four years, ” Smith said about what he felt after the loss. “Obviously, it’s a sad moment, and we don’t want it to end. But at the end of the day, you’re with a group of dudes who enjoyed being around each other, always hung out off the court, just did things like that. ” At the hotel after arriving for the West Regional on Tuesday, Omer Mayer pulled out a game the team hadn’t seen since preseason: Settlers of Catan, a strategic, resource-collecting board game for four players. Mayer introduced Catan to the team during Purdue’s offseason Navy SEAL training program, when they stayed together overnight without phones and had to complete missions that required them to work through adversity. They brought board games to keep themselves entertained during their downtime. “We had to communicate with each other, and just to complete some missions together, ” Mayer said. “So I think it had a lot to do with all the chemistry. ” The game lasts a couple hours but the grudges last forever. Settlers of Catan is the move tonight. pic. twitter. com/Ht CL8KY1Un — Purdue Men's Basketball (@Boiler Ball) March 25, 2026 As the Boilermakers move into a new era with a core group of seniors departing, it will be on another group to maintain the standard that has been set and maybe even raise the ceiling as the program continues to pursue its first national championship. Advertisement “You’ve got to have a player-led team. You just do, ” Painter said. “And if things are changing all the time, that’s pretty hard to do. So we’re very fortunate that these guys stayed loyal and stuck with it. ” Purdue has a highly ranked recruiting class coming in next season that closely resembles the early makeup of this team, going back to when Zach Edey played. Luke Ertel is a great playmaking point guard who can shoot it (Smith). Jacob Webber is a knockdown shooter who can come off screens (Loyer). Rivers Knight mirrors the skill set of former Boilermaker stretch forward Cam Heide (now at Texas). Sinan Huan, a 7-footer, will draw comparisons to Edey, and although he has ways to go physically, both have natural touch. Jamyn Sondrup is a big with a back-to-the-basket game, though he’s slightly undersized. Painter clearly likes to build through developing freshmen. Smith, Loyer, and Kaufman-Renn made an impact right away and fought through ups and downs. Though they never won it all, Purdue has been among the sport’s most consistent winners. The transience of the transfer portal era doesn’t have an end in sight. Can Painter sustain the consistency of what he built in these past four seasons? “It’s going to be tough to match, but that’s what we’re going to try to find, ” he said. “We’re going to try to find guys like this that have character that are wired to be successful. ” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Matthew Ho is a staff editor for The Athletic covering college sports. Prior to joining The Athletic, he was the managing editor for Mustang News and a sports reporter for the San Luis Obispo Tribune and Southern California News Group. Matthew graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in journalism. Follow Matthew on Twitter @mho_kj