Some of the best battles of this Big Ten basketball season have taken place in the conference tournament in Indianapolis, and that held true on Saturday. In the first semifinal, No. 5 seed Wisconsin basketball pulled a minor upset over top-seed Michigan State in a 77-74 classic.
The Spartans had multiple chances to tie the game late, but Wisconsin made a pair of amazing defensive plays to preserve its lead. First, Tre Holloman appeared to have an open shot to tie things up, but Carter Gilmore appeared out of nowhere to come up with a huge block.
Then, with the clock winding down, Wisconsin superstar John Tonje stripped Jeremy Fears Jr. clean to prevent the tying attempt at the buzzer.
Tonje made the big play on defense at the end of the game, but it was his offensive production that really stood out in this one. The former Colorado State and Missouri transfer finished the game with 32 points and seven rebounds on 8-for-15 shooting in a very efficient performance for Wisconsin.
With another big game, Tonje became the first player to score 30 or more points in a trio of wins against top 10 teams since Kemba Walker during his legendary 2010-11 season for UConn, according to Jared Berson. Tonje also scored 41 points in a win over Arizona back in November and 32 points against Purdue last month.
Tonje has been one of the best scorers in the nation all season long and these explosions have become almost commonplace. He led the Badgers with 19.1 points per game this season on his way to becoming a unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection.
After a late-season slide, Wisconsin is doing some serious damage control for its NCAA Tournament seed at the Big Ten tournament this week. The Badgers crushed No. 4-seed UCLA in the quarterfinals thanks to a scorching effort that saw them tie the Big Ten tournament record with 19 3-pointers before knocking off the regular season champs on Saturday.
This Wisconsin basketball team has a chance to jump as high as a No. 3 seed on Selection Sunday if it can win the conference title. In the championship game, the Badgers will play the winner of the second semifinal between Maryland and Michigan. Regardless of who is on the other side, Tonje will be a handful for any team to slow down.
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