We may be witnessing history in West Lafayette.

Braden Smith is currently looking like the Big Ten Player of the Year. Should he win the award it would be the first time in league history that one school has had three straight Players of the Year thanks to the dominance of Zach Edey. It would also be the seventh time a player from Purdue won the award, and fifth under Matt Painter.

What Smith is doing could end up in the all-time NCAA record book.

Last night was the 97th career game for Braden, and he has started all 97 of them in his career. He has, at minimum, 10 more games this year with the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments at the end of the season, and a maximum of 18. With 31 games next season plus at least two in the postseason for the respective tournaments there is quite a bit of basketball for him to play yet. That gives him plenty of time to chase the all-time assists record in NCAA history.

So far Braden has 643 assists for his career, giving him an average of 6.6 per game. His season averages have risen each year of his career, too, from 4.4 as a freshman to 7.5 last year and 8.6 this year. He is already second on the school’s all-time list and he will top it by the end of the season, as Bruce Parkinson leads that category with 690. That record has stood for 48 years.

It is probably reasonable to think he can get to 750 assists by the end of the season depending on the length of Purdue’s postseason. That would send him into next year with a legitimate shot at the all-time record.

Only four players in Division I history have reached 1,000 career assists: LIU-Brooklyn’s Jason Brookman with 1,009, North Carolina’s Ed Cota with 1,030, NC State’s Chris Corchiani at 1,038, and Duke’s Bobby Hurley at 1,076.

Should Smith reach 750 total assists by the end of the season that would give him over 300 for this year and put him 326 away from tying Hurley for the record. Last season he finished with 292, so getting to at least 1,000 in his career is very much on the table, if not likely.

Of course, keeping up this torrid pace is tough, but he has shown no signs of slowing down. He has had double digit assists nine times this season, and with only four last night it was the lowest single game total he has had since the Michigan State game at home last year.

Assuming Smith can keep his 8.6 assists per game pace through the end of his career he would need another 51 games to get the record. At minimum he has at least 43 left (8 regular season this year, two tournament games, 31 next year plus at least two tournament games). That makes for a tight window, but it can be done. Right now he would need 42 games at his current pace to get to 1,000 assists, which would be a tremendous accomplishment.

Either way, Smith is playing the best basketball of his career, and that is why Purdue is in line for a third straight Big Ten title

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Elsewhere in the Big Ten we could see history in the season's home finale, as Rutgers' Ace Bailey leads the league in scoring.