(UW ATHLETICS) WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. — John Tonje scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half, and No. 19 Wisconsin came back to beat Pittsburgh 81-75 in the championship of the Greenbrier Tip-Off on Sunday night.
Badgers coach Greg Gard talked about Tonje who scored his points after a short stint on the bench.
John Blackwell added 14 points, Nolan Winter had 11 and Kamari McGee scored 10 for Wisconsin. The Badgers’ 7-0 start is the first since the 2014-15 season, when they lost to Duke in the national championship.
Ishmael Leggett scored 17 points, Cameron Corhen added 16 and Jaland Lowe had 15 for Pittsburgh (6-1).
Wisconsin trailed by as many as 14 points late in the first half. Tonje scored 11 points in a three-minute stretch, including a layup with 11:15 remaining, to give the Badgers a 51-49 lead, their first since scoring the game’s first basket.
Gard said when the team was down 14, the shots started to fall.
Gard talked about his now 7-0 team.
He said the team stuck with the game plan and then made some shots.
McGee’s 3-pointer with 6:19 remaining put Wisconsin ahead 65-62, and it didn’t trail again.
Takeaways
Wisconsin: Tonje, a transfer from Missouri, missed his first six shots and went scoreless over the first 12 minutes, putting Wisconsin in a double-digit hole. He went 9 of 11 after halftime, finished 11 of 19 overall and made all 10 free-throw attempts.
Pittsburgh: Damian Dunn, Pittsburgh’s third-leading scorer at 13 points per game, landed awkwardly after a shot attempt two minutes into the game, limped off the court and did not return.
Key moment
After Pittsburgh pulled within 71-70 on Zack Austin’s 3-pointer with 3:30 left, Wisconsin finished the game on a 10-5 run.
Key stat
Wisconsin shot 60% (18 of 30) from the floor in the second half after missing all 10 3-point attempts in the first half.
Up next
Pittsburgh plays at Ohio State on Friday while Wisconsin hosts Chicago State on Saturday.
Notable:
- The Badgers have now started the season 7-0 for the first time since opening the 2014-15 season with 7 straight wins. That team went on to reach the 2015 National Championship Game.
- With Pitt slotted No. 13 in the KenPom rankings, Wisconsin is now the nation’s only team with 2 wins over teams ranked in the Ken Pom top-25.The Badgers also defeated current No. 23 Arizona.
- UW has won back-to-back regular-season non-conference tournaments, and 3 in the last 4 seasons. The Badgers also won the 2021 Maui Invitational and the 2023 Fort Myers Tip-Off.
- The Badgers have now scored at least 79 points in each of the first 7 games,
extending the longest such streak in school history. - The Badgers held Pitt to 5-for-23 (21.7%) from 3-point range. In two games at the Greenbrier, UW opponents shot a mere 17.5% (7-40) from long range.
- John Tonje is the only Big Ten player and 1 of 6 nationally to tally multiple 30-point games this season. Tonje is the 8th Badger to post multiple 30-point games in a season since the 2005-06 season.
- Tonje’s 60 made FTs lead all Division I players and his 63 FTAs are tops in the Big Ten and tied for fourth nationally. Tonje is the first Badger with three games of 10+ made free throw since Brad Davison in 2017-18.
- Tonje and Blackwell each matched their career-bests with seven and four consecutive 10+ point games. Nolan Winter recorded double-figures in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, while Kamari McGee did so for the first time with UW.
Up Next:
The Badgers travel back home and will take on Chicago State at the Kohl Center on Saturday, Nov. 30, with tip set for 12 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed on Peacock.
