The three-seed University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team (27-10, 13-7 Big Ten) had their March Madness run come to a heartbreaking end, losing 91-89 against the six-seeded BYU Cougars (24-8, 14-6 Big 12) in the second round Saturday, March 22 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
The Badgers advanced to the second round following an 85-66 victory over Montana in the first round, capped off by double-digit performances from five different Badgers, including junior Xavier Amos’ third double-digit output in his first year as a Badger.
The only other time the Badgers faced the Cougars came in 2011 when then-freshman Frank Kaminsky scored two points and then-sophomore Ben Brust dropped 21 to a 73-56 Badger victory. That season, the Badgers also faced Montana in the first round of March Madness, eventually falling to Syracuse in the Sweet 16.
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The Cougars jumped out to an eight-point lead five minutes into the first half, as the Badgers turned the ball over three times in six possessions, allowing the Cougars to score multiple fastbreak layups.
The Badgers brought the game within two points thanks to a Tonje layup, but the Cougars regrouped and solidified their lead, going on a 14-2 run, eventually ballooning the lead to as high as 14 points with six minutes left in the first half.
That’s when sophomore John Blackwell and graduate student John Tonje took over, scoring the Badgers final 12 points of the half between them, though the Cougars still maintained an 11-point lead entering the break.
The Badgers came out of the break flying, going on a 12-5 run to cut the Cougars’ lead down to four points. Tonje continued to score, keeping the Badgers around a five-to-six point gap before the Cougars went on a run of their own, outscoring the Badger 12-2 in only 2:30.
Wisconsin was unable to break the Cougar defense and make a comeback until about two minutes left in the game, when Tonje and seniors Max Klesmit and Carter Gilmore fought to keep their Badger careers going, scoring all 21 of the Badgers’ final points to make the Cougars fight to maintain their lead.
On the final possession of the game, the Badgers were down 91-89 and looking for overtime or the win. Tonje, who had a staggering 37 points, grabbed the ball off of the inbound with 13.5 seconds left and drove at 6-foot-7 Mawot Mag.
Mag used his size to force Tonje away from the basket and, without fouling, forced Tonje to take a fadeaway shot that sailed harmlessly under the rim, ending the Badgers’ March Madness run and Tonje’s collegiate career.
Tonje ended his season frustratingly close from Kaminsky’s single-season scoring record, needing only nine points to surpass Kaminsky’s 732-point output during the 2015 season. Tonje also finished his career in third in 3-pointers made with 85, still 18 behind Bronson Koenig’s incredible 103 threes in 2017.
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Capping off his record-breaking season, Tonje smashed the previous single-season record for free throws made, scoring 231, 41 more than Nigel Hayes managed in 2016.
Senior Steven Crowl cemented his name as a Badger all-time great, grabbing his 850th career rebound, becoming the fifth Badger to do so. Crowl also scored 1,475 points in his career, reaching 12th all-time.
The Badgers head coach Greg Gard proved this season that even a Badger team that wasn’t expected to perform well in the Big Ten, as this year’s squad was picked to finish 12th by CBS, can still exceed expectations and make fans proud both on and off the court.
Next season’s squad will look very different, and Tonje, Crowl, Klesmit, Gilmore and senior Kamari McGee will move on from the Badgers, with Blackwell and sophomore Nolan Winter stepping up to lead the team back to the Big Ten Championship and a deep March Madness run.