The Wisconsin basketball team has advanced to the Big Ten Conference Tournament final after defeating the Michigan State Spartans.
The Spartans previously got the best of the Badgers in the last regular season meeting, where Wisconsin had arguably the worst team shooting performance of the season. This time around, however, Wisconsin pushed to hit the foul line as much as possible and pulled out a gritty 77-74 win.
John Tonje again led the team in scoring with a 32 point, seven rebound performance for the Wisconsin basketball team that was truly needed to defeat such a strong team.
Wisconsin Basketball Defeats Michigan State 77-74 in Hard Fought Matchup
While the Wisconsin basketball team pulled away for the win, the Badgers had to fight for the entirety of the game in order to do so as the Spartans would not back done.
During the last game, Wisconsin shot terribly from beyond the arc and ultimately lost the game narrowly against a strong opponent in Michigan State. This time around the Badgers shot 31% from long-range, nailing nine triples including some massive momentum shots.
Forward Carter Gilmore was electric off the bench from outside for Wisconsin, hitting two big three-point shots that brought plenty of noise out of the crowd. Gilmore finished the game with ten points, three blocks, five assists, and five rebounds as the forward did a bit of everything for the Badgers in the win.
John Tonje Again Comes Alive Offensively for the Wisconsin Basketball Team
After helping the Wisconsin basketball team to the win yesterday over UCLA, John Tonje again led the Badgers in scoring against the Spartans.
Tonje looked virtually unstoppable against the Bruins, missing just one field goal all game which came with minutes left in the second-half. The guard carried his hot shooting into another revenge game, this time dropping 32 points on the Spartans and making a living at the foul line.
The guard nailed 12 free-throws and added four triples, going 8-for-15 from the field against the talented Spartans defense. Tonje previously had a tough shooting performance, along with the rest of the Badgers, against Michigan State during the last contest.
The Badgers and Tonje looked completely different this afternoon, commanding the offense and taking the shots that the team wants to take. When Wisconsin works to create the looks shooters like Tonje, Klesmit, or Blackwell can nail, then the Badgers are offense looks much more fluid.
Wisconsin will have to prepare for either Maryland or Michigan, both of whom the team has had mixed success against. The Badgers played each team and lost each contest this season, with the talented big men being the driving force behind the wins for the opposition.
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