The No. 11 University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team (8-1, 0-1 Big Ten) faced off against the No. 23 University of Michigan (7-1, 1-0) at the Kohl Center in Madison, WI. The Badgers fell just three points short, suffering a scoring drought with zero points in the last 2:37 of the game.
Transfer John Tonje led the team with 18 points, scoring 6 points in the first half and 12 in the second, shooting 5-12 from the inside and 3-5 from beyond the line. Tonje held an impressive record shooting 5-6 in free throws having a 93.7% from inside the paint so far this season.
The 6 foot 4 starter John Blackwell followed suit with 16 points, shooting six in the first and 10 in the second, 6-12 in the paint and a slim 0-1 in 3-pointers. Blackwell led the Badgers on Tuesday night with nine rebounds.
Starting sophomore Nolan Winter tallied eight points with three crowd-pleasing dunks and two assists.
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The match-up was a nail-biting back-and-forth possession game with the Michigan Wolverines narrowly pulling through in a point surge led by Vlad Goldin with a career-high of 24 points on Tuesday night.
The game began with a lead by the Badgers, Tonje effectively running the pick-and-roll, nailing a jumper in the transition. Max Klesmit went 1-for-3 beyond the arc, contributing six points to the first. The Badgers managed to pull a lead through the first half at 32 points, shooting 32.3% from the field (10-31).
Danny Wolf led the Michigan Wolverines with nine points (3-5) in the first, along with six rebounds. Vlad Goldin chipped in with a rebound and block ending the first with seven points.
The Badgers second half was led by Tonje, going 4-4 at the paint and 3-6 in the field, with Blackwell pulling through with five rebounds. Michigan relied on Goldin’s whopping 17 points and Wolf’s 66.7% shooting efficiency in the second half, the duo creating multiple opportunities for Goldin’s second-half contributions.
Wisconsin’s poor shooting from the 3-point range and lack of scoring consistency prevented the Badgers from taking control over the second half, the game ending in a narrow 3-point lead by the Michigan Wolverines.
UW players debuted the ‘By the Players’ alternate jerseys in partnership with Under Armor. This marks the fifth edition of ‘By the Players’ uniforms that allow players to help design, in this case, seniors Kamari McGee and Max Klesmit were involved with designing the jerseys showcasing Madison’s skyline and the iconic Bucky Badger.