The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team (4-0, 0-0 Big Ten) defeated No. 9 Arizona Wildcats (2-1, 0-0 Big 12) 103-88 during a historic night at the Kohl Center on Friday, Nov. 15.
Pregame
The night was all about celebrating Wisconsin basketball, as legendary head coach Bo Ryan had his banner lifted into the rafters of the Kohl Center, cementing his legacy as one of the all-time greats in college basketball history. Ryan was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024, alongside NBA superstars Vince Carter and Jerry West.
Ryan earned four Big Ten Coach of the Year awards during his tenure with the Badgers, alongside 15 March Madness appearances, one for every year of his leadership and the infamous back-to-back Final Four run during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.
Members of those Final Four teams also attended Friday night’s game, displaying their trophies and reliving the walk out of the tunnel onto the Ab Nicholas Court.
First half
The game started like no other this season as the Badgers jumped to a quick 7-0 lead, five points of which were scored by graduate student John Tonje, a subtle foreshadowing of what was to come for the North Omaha, Nebraska native.
Arizona, as a top-ten team should, refused to let the lead grow out of control, but the Badgers were able to maintain around a five-point lead for much of the first ten minutes.
But, with about six minutes remaining in the first half, the Badgers went on a tear, as senior Max Klesmit drained a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 14 points, then senior Kamari McGee nailed a three of his own to extend the lead to 15 before junior Xavier Amos had Badger fans on their feet, putting away his 3-pointer to give the Badgers what would be their biggest lead of the game at 18 points.
The Wildcats kept pushing and closed the gap to just 11 points as the buzzer rang for halftime. Tonje finished the first half with 22 points and five rebounds while going 13-13 from the free-throw line. Sophomore John Blackwell ended with nine points, while also staying perfect from the free-throw line on four attempts. As a team, the Badgers shot 23-26 on free throws and 6-13 from the 3-point line.
On the other side, Arizona guards Caleb Love and Jaden Bradley shot 1-5 and 5-9 from the field respectively, and Love finished the first half with four points, while Bradley ended with 16.
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Second half
The Wildcats came out strong in the second half, tying the game at 65 apiece six minutes into the half. But, after a timeout, the Badgers were able to regroup and retake the lead, eventually re-extending their lead to 12 points.
As the half went on, Tonje couldn’t stop scoring, breaking into the top-ten all-time single-game scoring record with 32 and only nine minutes left to play. Frank Kaminsky, who holds the single-game point record with 43 and was part of the legendary Final Four runs, could only watch as Tonje continued scoring.
Tonje broke into the top five with over six minutes to play and cracked the top three only a minute later with 38 points. As Tonje scored his forty-first point of the game on an and-one, the energy in the Kohl Center was at an all-time high.
To everyone’s dismay, Tonje missed his next and final shot, as the Badgers prioritized closing out the game over feeding Tonje, eventually leading to the 103-88 final score.
Postgame
Tonje finished the game with the second-highest single-game scoring record in Badgers’ history, missing out on Kaminsky’s 43-point game by a single missed 3-pointer. He also finished with six rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Klesmit and Blackwell posted strong stat lines as well, with Klesmit logging 14 points, three rebounds and three assists and Blackwell notching 14 points, three assists and two rebounds.
The Badgers stayed solid from the free-throw line, sinking 41 of their 47 attempts, and Tonje broke the record for most free throws made in a game with 21 while tying the attempts record at 22.
Redshirt freshman Jack Janicki played with the confidence of a veteran, knocking down two of his four 3-point attempts alongside two rebounds and two assists.
Friday night’s win marks the fourth win in five games against the Wildcats, including two wins in March Madness, and is the first win over Arizona at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers stay at home to host the UT-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros on Monday, Nov. 17, before traveling to West Virginia to participate in the Greenbrier Tip-Off from Nov. 22-24.