yahoo - 3/22/2026 3:57:26 PM - GMT (+2 )
Follow all of Sunday's NCAA Tournament second round games with USA TODAY Sports' live updates.
Now that Braden Smith has the NCAA assists record, the Purdue senior can focus solely on what brought the Boilermakers point guard back to West Lafayette: a chance at a championship.
Purdue got close in 2024, reaching the national championship game with Zach Edey anchoring the post. Three starters on that team remain, including Smith.
In-depth: Matt Painter, Purdue and the honest quest for March Madness glory
March Madness conference records: Big Ten leads at 11-2; How are SEC, Big 12 doing?
The Boilers completely out-everythinged No. 15 seed Queens in the first round and get a second round matchup against No. 7 Miami.
The Hurricanes were almost equally impressive in their 80-66 first round win over No. 10 Missouri. Miami was led by a player all-too-familiar with the Boilermakers. Indiana transfer Malik Reneau scored 24 points in the Canes' win over the Tigers and has had plenty of battles with Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn. So that should be a fun matchup.
Miami have been a revelation in Jai Lucas' first year as coach. After going 7-24 last season, the Hurricanes are 26-8 and one win away from their first Sweet 16 since reaching the Final Four in 2023.
Here's more of what you need to know for today's game with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. The winner will face No. 11 seed Texas next week in San Jose.
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Purdue vs Miami live score| TEAMS | 1H | 2H | F |
| Miami | — | — | — |
| Purdue | — | — | — |
- Time: 12:10 p.m. ET, Sunday.
- The game is airing on CBS, streaming via Paramount+.
Odds provided by BetMGM, as of 9:30 a.m., Sunday.
Nathan Baird, IndyStar: Purdue 73-65
"Malik Reneau and Tre Donaldson will be difficult matchups regardless of their Big Ten backgrounds. If the Boilers keep attacking inside out and controlling the boards, though, they're headed for San Jose."
Sam King, Journal & Courier: Purdue 87-77
"The much-improved defense from the last four games will have to carry over. If Purdue can get production from the post, where Miami thrived defensively against Missouri, packaged with solid enough defense, it'll win. Purdue's guards are good enough to expose the Hurricanes otherwise."
- John Leuzzi: Purdue
- Jordan Mendoza: Purdue
- Ehsan Kassim: Purdue
- Blake Schuster: Purdue
- Moneyline: Purdue (-350); Miami (+275)
- Spread: Purdue (-7.5)
- Over/under total: 147.5
Smith broke Hurley's record in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Queens on Friday, March 20. The senior from Indiana got the record on a dish to Trey Kaufman-Renn in the first half.
Smith finished the game with 1,083 career assists in his four year career with the Boilermakers. Purdue fans at the game gave Smith a standing ovation for the achievement.
Smith told USA TODAY Sports ahead of the tournament he was "ready to just get it over with" so he could put all of the attention toward winning Purdue's first national championship. Now with that in hand, the decorated guard can go for the two goals he had for his senior season.
"That's one of the reasons I came back, was to win and to get the record," he said. "Obviously, wanted to do it at a place that I've been for the three years prior. For me, just to be around a great bunch of guys and obviously great coaching staff, and do it with them, I think it makes it more special."
Who is Jai Lucas? Miami FL coach leads remarkable turnaroundLucas came to Coral Gables from a star-making turn as recruiting director and assistant coach at Duke. He replaced a legend in Jim Larrañaga, who led the 'Canes to the Final Four in 2023 but saw the program fall apart after that, leading him to resign amid a horrid 7-24 season in 2024-25.
A little more than three months later, Lucas was brought in to get Miami back into the NCAA tournament. And that he did, using his recruiting acumen developed from his time at Texas through his tenure under Jon Scheyer to build an instant contender in the ACC, finishing third in the premiere basketball conference's regular-season standings. The Hurricanes went 25-8, by far the best single-season improvement in the country.
Matt Painter's March Madness recordMatt Painter has a 25-17 career record in the NCAA Tournament. This is his 18th trip to March Madness, 17th with Purdue (he led Southern Illinois to the NCAA Tournament before becoming Purdue's coach-in-waiting).
He's led the Boilermakers to eight Sweet 16s.
Dan Rorabaugh of the Palm Beach Post contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Purdue vs Miami live score updates, highlights from March Madness Round 2
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