The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team overcame the odds all season. But on Saturday evening in Denver, Wisconsin’s unexpected team of sudden destiny ran out of magic.
Trailing for the entirety of the game, the Badgers could not complete a furious comeback and fell to the sixth-seeded BYU Cougars 91-89 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Badgers hadn’t made the Sweet 16 since 2017, and with Saturday’s loss, they will go another season without advancing past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Wisconsin came into the season with an unpredictable team of veteran transfers and returning role players and were projected to finish 12th in the Big Ten. But Wisconsin’s unexpectedness ended up being its strength, as senior transfer John Tonje made himself into a star. Along with contributions down the line from the rest of the squad, Wisconsin reached as high as No. 11 in the AP Poll, with a handful of vigorous, fan base-revitalizing victories.
But it all came crashing down on Sunday. In the nature of today’s world of college basketball, Wisconsin’s season ended just as quickly as it began.
“I've been doing this a long time,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said after the game. “Watching them [Wisconsin] grow together from the time they got together to June to now may have been the most fun, enjoyable year in my career. We were highly doubted, supposed to finish 12th.”
Tonje scored a game-high 37 points, overcoming a slow start to hit 10-18 field goals and 14-16 free throws, with four rebounds and four assists. Blackwell scored 21 points on 6-14 shooting, with six rebounds and three assists. Klesmit added 12, on four 3-pointers, and Steven Crowl scored 10 points, with four rebounds.
Richie Saunders was a crutch in Wisconsin’s heel all game, leading the way for BYU with 25 points on 9-16 shooting, 3-4 from the 3, with seven rebounds. Trevin Knell scored 14 points, burning the Badgers with four 3s. Egor Demin scored 11 points, and Keba Keita added 10.
BYU got off to a hot start, hitting their first three shots to take a 7-2 lead within the first 2 minutes of the game. Wisconsin hit some early 3s, from Crowl and Blackwell, but trailed 14-8 at the first media timeout at 15:45.
After Saunders made a lay-up on BYU’s ensuing possession, the Cougars had doubled the Badgers early, leading 16-8, and had hit six of their first eight shots. Wisconsin began to heat up, as Tonje scored five straight Badger points on a trio of free throws and a lay-up. But BYU went on a 7-0 run to bring their lead to nine, challenging Wisconsin.
Wisconsin trailed 27-16 heading into the under-media timeout. They had missed their last nine field goals and had not scored a field goal in over six and a half minutes. The Badgers looked rushed and out-of-sync, unlike how they had played over the previous couple of weeks.
BYU continued their 3-point rampage, hitting three from beyond the arc. Wisconsin hit two of their own but still trailed 38-24, their largest deficit since Dec. 7, prompting head coach Greg Gard to use a timeout.
Wisconsin then scored a quick five points, a 3-pointer from Blackwell and a driving lay-up from Tonje to bring the game to 38-29. It seemed as if Wisconsin may have found some life defensively, as the score stayed knotted until the under three-minute mark. But with momentum finally shifting their way, Wisconsin failed to cut further into BYU’s lead.
After five straight points from Tonje, Wisconsin had brought the game to within eight, but they couldn’t muster any more offense at the end of the half. A killer Knell 3 at the buzzer gave BYU a 47-36 lead. It sent Wisconsin into the locker room with their largest halftime deficit of the season, and having wasted an opportunity to claw back into the game.
At halftime, Wisconsin had three players in double-figures, Tonje, Crowl and Blackwell, but shot only 38% (12-31) from the field as a team, and 29.4% (5-17) from 3. Compared to BYU’s 47.2 % (17-36) from the field and 42.9 %, (6-14) the Badgers simply were not keeping pace. Wisconsin had too often slipped up defensively, and had not found a way to contain Saunders, who at the half had 12 points on 5-9 shooting, going 2-2 from 3.
If Wisconsin missed a comeback opportunity toward the end of the first-half, they put themselves in position to strike again, getting within four points early in the first four minutes of the second half. A Tonje 3-pointer at 18:24 made it a nine-point game, and after a Blackwell lay-up and a heavily contested Klesmit 3, the Badgers had brought the game to within four, 52-48, and were on an 8-0 run.
With Wisconsin keeping the game within the five-point range, they again ran into trouble, as Gilmore, McGee and Klesmit all found themselves in foul trouble, with three apiece, putting BYU in the bonus with 13:59 left.
Up by four, BYU made two more free throws and nailed a three with 12:17 to make it a 63-54 game. Just as Wisconsin had made it a close game, the Cougars struck quickly on yet another disheartening blow for the Badgers.
BYU’s offense kept at it, continuing to hit back-breaking 3-pointers as Wisconsin put together enough offense to keep things interesting. After a Knell 3-pointer made it 78-68 with 7:33 left, the Cougars had made seven of their last 10 shots.
With Wisconsin’s season on the line, they couldn’t lock in defensively, allowing BYU tip-ins and easy lay-ups to eat away at any chance the Badgers had in salvaging their season. Meanwhile, BYU’s defense stepped up, pushing Wisconsin deep into their shot clock and then forced agonizing misses.
But around the two-minute mark, things Wisconsin started to turn things around. Having won 23 regular season games, and advancing to the Big Ten Tournament championship game through consistently stringing together clutch plays, the Badgers re-found their recipe of season-long success in the games’ final minutes. Unfortunately, it came too late.
At 1:49, with the season slipping away, McGee stole a BYU pass and Wisconsin pushed the ball in a fast-break with Gilmore eventually making a physical and-1 bucket. He made the free throw and the Badgers were within six, 89-83.
BYU made two free throws on their next possession, but Tonje immediately hit a clutch 3, cutting the deficit to five with 1:16 left. Tonje made a lay-up 15 seconds later, and the Badgers were somehow within three, with a mountain of momentum on their side.
Wisconsin needed another stop, and they got one fromforcing two BYU misses in the final minutes, putting the ball back in their hands with 13.5 seconds to play.
In storming back from down double-digits, the Badgers had already made themselves a part of the madness, but with a win, would enshrine themselves in the college basketball storybooks for years to come.
Gilmore’s inbound pass was delivered to Tonje, who hurriedly dribbled the ball up the court. Tonje, guarded by Mag, drove towards the right side but was cut off near the block and smothered. With nowhere to go and time quickly depleting, Tonje turned around and let off a fadeaway jumper, which fell hopelessly into the arms of Keita. Wisconsin’s season was over.
Tonje, the man most responsible for Wisconsin’s astonishing season, had his rip-roaring Wisconsin career end.
