Tonje scores 32 as No. 18 Wisconsin tops No. 7 Michigan St. 77-74 in Big Ten semis
INDIANAPOLIS — John Tonje scored 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds to help No. 18 Wisconsin beat No. 7 Michigan State 77-74 on Saturday in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
John Blackwell added 14 points as the Badgers (26-8) won for the third time in four days. They will play No. 11 Maryland or No. 22 Michigan for the tournament title on Sunday.
Jase Richardson had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Spartans (27-6). Jeremy Fears Jr. had 14 points and six assists, but he had the ball knocked away in the waning seconds as he tried to tie the score with a heave from near the midcourt logo.
Michigan State, the league’s regular-season champs, had won eight in a row.
Wisconsin erased a 45-41 deficit with an 11-0 run in the second half. The Badgers were pushed to the very end, but they used four straight points to make it 72-67 with 1:10 to play.
Takeaways
Wisconsin: The Badgers followed an 86-point game with 19 3-pointers by showing they could win a grind-it-out game, too. Tonje could make Wisconsin a sneaky Final Four pick.
Michigan State: The Spartans were rolling until Saturday. Could this loss cost the Spartans a No. 2 seed for the NCAA tourney? Maybe. But getting an extra day off might help more.
Key moment
After Tonje missed a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left, Blackwell tried to chase down the rebound, but his path was impeded by Jaden Akins, who was called for the foul. Blackwell made both free throws to give the Badgers a 74-70 lead with 31.4 seconds to go.
Key stat
The Badgers made three more free throws than Michigan State, 22-19.
Up next
Wisconsin will try to win its first Big Ten tourney title since 2015 and claim the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid. The Spartans will find out their tourney fate Sunday.
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