Braden Smith, No. 1 Purdue survive strong test from Oakland

Braden Smith had 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to help No. 1 Purdue outlast visiting Oakland 87-77 on Friday in West Lafayette, Ind.

Smith led six Purdue players in double figures. Fletcher Loyer scored 15 points, Oscar Cluff and C.J. Cox each scored 14 and Jack Benter and Liam Murphy each added 11 for Purdue, which went 13 of 35 from 3-point range and shot 47.1% from the field overall (32 of 68).

Ziare Wells had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Nassim Mashhour scored 15 points, Tuburu Naivalurua and Brody Robinson each scored 11 and Isaac Garrett had 10 for Oakland, which shot 44.1% from the field (30 of 68) and 8 of 26 from 3-point range.

The Golden Grizzlies did have the edge on the boards, outrebounding the top-ranked team in the country 39-37. Neither team made many mistakes, with Oakland committing nine turnovers to just five miscues for Purdue.

Oakland hung around with Purdue throughout, trailing by just five points at 70-65 with 5:59 remaining.

From there, Purdue took over.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Loyer and Smith gave Purdue a 76-67 lead with 4:43 to go, and then Loyer and Cox hit triples 30 seconds apart to put the Boilermakers ahead 83-69.

Oakland couldn't get its deficit back down to single digits the rest of the way.

The game was tied 35-35 at halftime, but Purdue started to gain some separation early in the second, taking a 53-44 lead with 15:37 remaining in the game following a three-point play by Smith.

The Golden Grizzlies didn't fade, though. They went on an 11-3 run to cut Purdue's lead to 56-55 with 12:17 left after a 3-pointer by Robinson.

Oakland had a strong first half, using a 10-0 run to take a 23-17 lead with 8:34 before halftime.

Oakland held a 27-24 edge with 3:53 left. Purdue scored six straight to flip the margin with 1:49 remaining until halftime, but Naivalurua and Robinson knocked down 3-pointers to help Oakland respond.