MICHAEL MCCLEARY
The University of Wisconsin men's basketball team got another monster individual performance to pull itself out of a rut in the Greenbrier Tip-Off championship game Sunday, tying its best start in 10 years with a third early season tournament championship in four years.
Behind 33 points from graduate guard John Tonje, No. 19 Wisconsin (7-0) came back from as many as 14 down to beat Pittsburgh 81-75 at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Two big 3-pointers from the right corner late in the game by Badgers senior guard Kamari McGee and a 25-point outburst in the second half by Tonje was enough to erase the Panthers' (6-1) first-half momentum, giving Wisconsin yet another marquee early season win.
"I only have a limited amount of time, but I just want my teammates to know that I'm here to build lifelong relationships," Tonje said. "And I think they've embraced me, and the city's embraced me, and I'm just doing everything I can to compete for the name on the front of the jersey. And it's been amazing so far."
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The Badgers' seven wins to start the season matches the 7-0 start by their 201415 team, which later advanced to a second-straight Final Four and the national championship game.
It was an ugly start to the game for the Badgers. It took them 12 minutes, 13 seconds to score more than 10 points. Wisconsin opened the scoring with a dunk from graduate forward Steven Crowl, but then Pittsburgh went on a 9-0 run with four straight misses by the Badgers and four consecutive makes by the Panthers over a 1:39 span.
Pittsburgh led by as much as 14 points in the first half, and Wisconsin's comeback attempts were not without mistakes to counter them.
Sophomore guard John Blackwell converted at the rim for a layup, which Wisconsin followed with a stop and a turnaround jumper from sophomore Nolan Winter to cut the Pittsburgh lead under double digits for the first time since 11:31, when the Panthers led 168. But after a steal the next possession that looked to add more to Wisconsin's run, redshirt freshman guard Jack Janicki took an ill-advised 3 on a three-onone-break situation, which misfired.
"I think he got a little excited in the moment," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said of Janicki, who made up for it with his play later in the game.
Pittsburgh made it a 10-point game at that point, though, with a jumper on the other end, taking a 3121 lead at 2:57.
Wisconsin cut the lead by seven at halftime, going into the break down 34-27 despite shooting 36.7% and missing all 10 of its 3-point attempts. The inability to pull away, though, eventually was a factor for Pittsburgh. With an 8-0 run over 2:26 in which the Badgers hit 5 of 6 shots, Wisconsin tied the game at 38-38.
The Panthers looked to take some momentum back, but the Badgers kept battling back into the game and, eventually, ahead. A 6-0 run from Wisconsin over 55 seconds (including a key assist from Janicki to Winter underneath) gave it a 51-50 lead at 11:15, its first advantage since 52 seconds into the game. The lead changed six times thereafter.
But Tonje continued to take over, scoring four points on a 9-2 run to give Wisconsin a 71-64 lead with 4:15. Pittsburgh fought back, but an offensive rebound and second-chance 3-point make, both from McGee with under 3 minutes, presented the last gasp for the Panthers. Wisconsin held on, its marvelous start continuing with another marquee win.
"It's obviously a really good win against a really good team," Gard said.
Wisconsin's 3-point shooting stalls in first half, bounces back late
It turns out, the only thing that could counter the Badgers' 3-point heavy offense is their inability to hit their 3s. Wisconsin got open looks in the first half against the Panthers, but it consistently misfired. It missed all 10 of its 3s in the first 20 minutes, with usual marksmen Tonje (0 of 3 from deep) and Blackwell (0 of 2) providing half of the misses.
"Obviously, our shots were falling the first half, but we didn't quit," Blackwell said. "We told ourselves halftime, 'Just keep going, the shots are gonna fall.'"
And the misses wouldn't last long. Wisconsin connected on 5 of 10 3s in the second frame, still getting a bulk of its momentum back by scoring inside, yet also converting on big makes from beyond the arc down the stretch to establish some control at moments -- the two biggest of which coming off the hands of McGee at 6:19 to give Wisconsin a 65-62 lead and at 2:54 to give Wisconsin a 74-70 lead.
John Blackwell's scoring surge seems real
The win would take much longer to materialize, but Blackwell flexing the whole way down the court after cutting the Panthers' lead to 38-34 with a layup in traffic at 17:28 is exactly what the Badgers need. With a 30-point game against UT-Rio Grande Valley to start his run, Blackwell has scored 61 total points in his last three games, averaging 20.3 per contest over that span.
Though it didn't help the Badgers' case from beyond the arc early, Blackwell's continued willingness to be a scorer is paying off for Wisconsin. And on a day when its eventual leading scorer, Tonje, was off with his shot early, it gave the Badgers a chance.
John Tonje turns it on in the second half to lead Wisconsin
When Tonje's shot wasn't falling early in the game, he did what he does better than all but five players in the country: He got to the line. A couple fouls and some free throws built some momentum for the graduate guard, and when Tonje has gotten momentum so far this season, there have been few better scorers in the country.
"I was trying to be aggressive from the start," Tonje said. "I didn't shoot the ball well early, but I just kept with it."
Tonje scored 33 points Sunday, shooting 9 of 11 in the second 20 minutes after starting the game slowly, missing 6 of his first 8 shots. He said following the win he noticed the foul trouble that the defenders the Panthers sent towards him was experiencing, and continued to attack them.
His 3-pointer with 14:38 left was a momentum-changer after Pittsburgh gained some by taking a six-point lead after Wisconsin drew the 38-38 tie. His layup at 11:15 gave the Badgers their first lead since the opening minute. And two nice finishes with under 6 minutes left gave Wisconsin its first two multi-possession leads of the game on back-to-back trips. Down the stretch, it was the transfer who continued to be a revelation.
"My coaches and teammates believed in me, and I just stayed with it and tried to get the win, do everything I can in my power to get the win," Tonje said. "I'm just glad we came out with the dub."
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