It wasn’t pretty for the No. 17 Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team on Saturday, but with big games from John Tonje and Carter Gilmore, the Badgers battled their way to a gritty 75-69 road win against the Northwestern Wildcats.
Led by Tonje’s 27 points on 8-18 shooting (5-11 from three) and Gilmore’s career-high 15 points with seven rebounds, Wisconsin overcame a difficult first half to avoid a road upset. Max Klesmit added 11 points while Nolan Winter contributed 10 points and five rebounds.
Within the first few minutes, Wisconsin knew it would be a battle even without key Northwestern starter Brooks Barhnizer. Missing their first five shots, the Badgers fell behind 8-0 in the first three minutes of the game. But while the offense didn’t improve immediately, Wisconsin’s defense kept them in the game.
With seven minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the half, Wisconsin had shot only 2-16 from the field but found themselves trailing only 12-7.
Then, the Tonje show began.
Over the course of the next four minutes, Tonje took over the game, scoring 16 straight points and carrying Wisconsin’s offense.
Tonje got started with a stepback three with 7:25 remaining, then cashed in on two technical free throws before hitting another 3-pointer. On Wisconsin’s next possession, he hit another 3-point shot and single-handedly shifted the game from a five-point Badger deficit to a three-point advantage.
But as Tonje started heating up, so did the Wildcats offense, which converted on two straight possessions before a Tonje lay-up, his 13th straight point. A possession late, Tonje capped off his outburst with an improbable 3-pointer with 3:49 remaining to tie the game at 23.
At the half, with Tonje as Wisconsin’s only source of offense, the Badgers went into the locker room trailing 31-25.
In the second half, Wisconsin’s offense as a collective began to heat up. Guard Max Klesmit and bench forward Carter Gilmore provided the Badgers the boost they desperately needed.
Klesmit, with a turn-around jumper and a 3-pointer, scored the first five points for Wisconsin, keeping the Badger offense afloat. But still, with 14:40 remaining in the game, Wisconsin trailed 44-35 and needed a boost. After a Tonje three cut the deficit to six, in came Gilmore to save Wisconsin.
Down 46-38 with 12:41 remaining, Gilmore hit clutch back-to-back 3s and tied the game at 48 on a driving lay-up. If Tonje was the firestorm keeping Wisconsin in the game in the first half, Gilmore became the unexpected spark that came to light when the Badgers most needed it.
A couple of minutes later, Gilmore secured an offensive rebound on a fast break, then converted on the put-back to give Wisconsin a 54-52 lead. Then, with 6:36 remaining, Gilmore cashed in on a huge 3-pointer to push Wisconsin’s lead to 62-57. After two made free throws with 5:34 remaining, Gilmore sat at a career-high 15 points, his presence massively felt in a stressful, back-and-forth game.
“What a great example of why somebody is a Wisconsin Badger,” head coach Greg Gard said of Gilmore after the game. “All of you locals know the story of a walk-on today. He's come the long, hard way. I'm really proud of him, and he has persevered, and stuck with it. When that happens, good things happen to people that really work hard, and stay the course.”
After Gilmore’s scoring spree, the Badgers finished strong, never relinquished their lead and left Evanston winners of a hard-fought, classic Big Ten game.
