Takeaways from Wisconsin's thrilling Big Ten Tournament win over Michigan State
Wisconsin basketball advanced to the Big Ten Tournament final with a heart-stopping 77-74 win over Michigan State on Saturday.
John Tonje leads the postgame headlines with 32 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one crucial game-saving block.
That block concluded an eventful final-minute sequence. Wisconsin led 72-70 with 1:01 left on the clock. It missed a three-pointer after running the shot clock down. However, John Blackwell was fouled while pursuing the offensive rebound. The sophomore capitalized on Michigan State's mistake with two key free throws, extending the Badgers' lead to 74-70. Michigan State would then add a pair at the line to draw within two with 22.6 seconds left. Wisconsin successfully inbounded the ball to Nolan Winter. The 79% free-throw shooter made just one of two, keeping the door open for a Spartans comeback.
The game then took a few dramatic turns in the final seconds. Carter Gilmore heroically blocked a Michigan State game-tying three-point attempt with six seconds remaining. John Tonje grabbed the rebound and was fouled. The 91.4% free-throw shooter missed both foul shot attempts, however, allowing the Spartans a final chance to force overtime.
Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. grabbed the second miss, dribbled the ball past half court and pulled up to shoot. Tonje went for an extremely risky block. Luckily for Badgers, he deflected the ball cleanly and sealed the three-point victory.
Was this a clean strip for Wisconsin?? đź‘€pic.twitter.com/lF1JYCypTO
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 15, 2025
The dramatic play further elevates Tonje's profile on a national stage. He leads Wisconsin into the Big Ten Tournament final, where it will face the winner of Michigan-Maryland.
As we all work to process the Badgers' dramatic win over the Spartans, here are our primary takeaways:
John Tonje's path to stardom continues
Tonje was Wisconsin's primary offense for the first 35 minutes of game time. He scored 32 points on 8-of-15 shooting, 4-of-10 from three and 12-of-14 from the foul line. As mentioned, those two free-throw misses came at the worst possible time. However, he quickly responded to make the game-sealing play.
Wisconsin has the look of a team that could make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. At this rate, John Tonje will become a household name by the time March concludes.
That was a heavyweight battle against two great teams
One major takeaway from the contest: Both Wisconsin and Michigan State are terrific teams, each in strong position to make a run in March Madness. The back-and-forth affair followed the same script as the previous meeting between the two teams. This time, Wisconsin was the team that made more plays in the final three minutes.
The result is no indictment on Michigan State's quality. Instead, it was a classic, hard-fought Big Ten Tournament game. An aside -- it would have been nice for the referees to officiate the game as such.
Tonje got help when he needed it the most
John Tonje led the Badgers in the win. But after he scored 14 of Wisconsin's first 20 points to start the half, other players needed to step up. John Blackwell and Carter Gilmore did exactly that down the stretch. Blackwell hit a big three-pointer with 7:11 left to extend Wisconsin's lead to 60-54. He then answered a Michigan State run one minute later with an and-one layup, putting the team up 63-60. Gilmore was next to hit the big shot -- his three-pointer with 4:49 left put the Badgers up 68-63.
The two players weren't done making a significant impact. Blackwell made an important layup with 1:11 left to put the Badgers up five, 72-67. He then added two key points at the free-throw line 30 seconds later to keep the Spartans at arm's length. Gilmore, finally, blocked Tre Holloman's game-tying three-point attempt with time dwindling.
While Tonje was the start of the game, don't overlook the late-game contributions from Blackwell and Gilmore.
Wisconsin showed important late-game resolve
Wisconsin was dominated down the stretch of its loss at Michigan State on March 2. It also handed Oregon a game in late February due to poor execution. Wisconsin showed impressive late-game resolve against Michigan State on Saturday, despite Tonje missing those two game-clinching free-throws. That included key shots, big defensive plays, made free-throws and an important lack of turnovers.
College basketball tournament games are won with made free throws and clean late-game execution. Wisconsin has struggled in that area at times this year. Saturday's win was an important step forward.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin basketball Michigan State tournament game takeaways
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