College basketball award watch lists are taking shape, and Purdue's 1-2 punch of Zach Edey and Braden Smith are getting nominations.

Edey, the Boilermakers' 7-4 senior center, and Smith, their 6-0 sophomore point guard, are among 40 players on the Oscar Robertson Trophy and All-America watch list from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Edey's qualifications are well documented. Last seasons' consensus national player of the year is on track for a repeat, averaging 23.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. He is Purdue's No. 2 career scorer and top rebounder.

However, Smith can boast something Edey could never dream of. Smith has more than 350 points, 200 assists, 150 rebounds and 40 steals this season, joining Magic Johnson as the only players in Big Ten history to reach all of those milestones in one year.

Smith, who averages 12.7 points, 7.3 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game, is on track to pass Bruce Parkinson as Purdue's single-season assists leader. (Johnson averaged 17.1 points, 8.4 assists, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 1978-79.)

Other teams with two players on the USBWA list: Houston (L.J. Cryer, Jamal Shead), Kansas (Hunter Dickinson, Kevin McCullar Jr.) and North Carolina (Armando Bacot, R.J. Davis). Other Big Ten players on the list: Northwestern's Boo Buie and Illinois' Terrence Shannon.

The No. 3 (USA TODAY) Boilermakers host Michigan State on Saturday night.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue basketball: Zach Edey, Braden Smith on All-America watch list