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Wisconsin basketball advanced in the Big Ten Tournament with an 86-70 win over the UCLA Bruins on Friday.
In a remarkable display of outside shooting, the Badgers connected on 19 three-point attempts against Mick Cronin's team. That tied them with the 2021-22 Iowa Hawkeyes for the most in a single game in Big Ten Tournament history.
UW's three-point barrage began with a combined seven makes from John Tonje, John Blackwell and bench forward Xavier Amos in the first nine minutes of action. During that run, Tonje converted an impressive four-point play from the right wing, setting the tone for what was to come through the rest of the afternoon.
Wisconsin then made five more outside looks to end the first half. It entered the break up 48-29. Remarkably, the Badgers made more shots from beyond the arc (12) than the Bruins did from the field (11) in the first half of play. Six different Badger playmakers notched at least one three-pointer in the first frame, headlined by a perfect 4-of-4 mark from Tonje.
The Bruins did open the second half on a 7-0 scoring spurt to cut the deficit to 12, 48-36. The Badgers did not relent, as Blackwell quickly took a page out of Tonje's book with a timely four-point play to stop UCLA's surge and reestablish Wisconsin's momentum.
Blackwell's bucket ignited a 12-2 run over the ensuing three minutes of action to turn a 12-point lead into a 22-point difference. The Badgers drilled five more three-point attempts to close the second half. They then emptied the bench with roughly 3:30 to spare.
Tonje, the player responsible for igniting Wisconsin's hot shooting performance, finished with a game-best 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists and one steal in 27 minutes of action. He did so off 9-of-10 shooting from the floor, 6-of-6 from deep and 2-of-3 from the foul line, easily the most efficient game he's played all season.
Blackwell dropped 18 points, five rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes, Kamari McGee registered 14 points off the bench and Steven Crowl chipped in with 13 points. As a team, the Badgers shot 51.7% from the floor and a blistering 59.4% from deep.
Wisconsin now advances to play No. 1-seed Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal on Saturday, March 15 at 1 p.m. ET, noon CT.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin Basketball Big Ten Tournament UCLA game Recap
Continue reading...
In a remarkable display of outside shooting, the Badgers connected on 19 three-point attempts against Mick Cronin's team. That tied them with the 2021-22 Iowa Hawkeyes for the most in a single game in Big Ten Tournament history.
UW's three-point barrage began with a combined seven makes from John Tonje, John Blackwell and bench forward Xavier Amos in the first nine minutes of action. During that run, Tonje converted an impressive four-point play from the right wing, setting the tone for what was to come through the rest of the afternoon.
Wisconsin then made five more outside looks to end the first half. It entered the break up 48-29. Remarkably, the Badgers made more shots from beyond the arc (12) than the Bruins did from the field (11) in the first half of play. Six different Badger playmakers notched at least one three-pointer in the first frame, headlined by a perfect 4-of-4 mark from Tonje.
The Bruins did open the second half on a 7-0 scoring spurt to cut the deficit to 12, 48-36. The Badgers did not relent, as Blackwell quickly took a page out of Tonje's book with a timely four-point play to stop UCLA's surge and reestablish Wisconsin's momentum.
Blackwell's bucket ignited a 12-2 run over the ensuing three minutes of action to turn a 12-point lead into a 22-point difference. The Badgers drilled five more three-point attempts to close the second half. They then emptied the bench with roughly 3:30 to spare.
Tonje, the player responsible for igniting Wisconsin's hot shooting performance, finished with a game-best 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists and one steal in 27 minutes of action. He did so off 9-of-10 shooting from the floor, 6-of-6 from deep and 2-of-3 from the foul line, easily the most efficient game he's played all season.
Blackwell dropped 18 points, five rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes, Kamari McGee registered 14 points off the bench and Steven Crowl chipped in with 13 points. As a team, the Badgers shot 51.7% from the floor and a blistering 59.4% from deep.
Wisconsin now advances to play No. 1-seed Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal on Saturday, March 15 at 1 p.m. ET, noon CT.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin Basketball Big Ten Tournament UCLA game Recap
Continue reading...
