Wisconsin basketball's comeback vs. BYU falls short in second round of March Madness

DENVER - Wisconsin’s attempt to reach the Sweet 16 came to a bitter end Saturday

The third-seeded Badgers men’s basketball team put forth a furious comeback during the final 2½ minutes but came up just short, falling, 91-89, to No. 6 seed BYU in an NCAA tournament second-round game at Ball Arena. UW went from trailing by 11 with 2½ minutes left to having the ball on the final possession.

The comeback, however, fell short after graduate guard John Tonje missed a last-second attempt and drew no foul.

The near comeback completed a 27-10 season for the Badgers that included a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten and a No. 3 seed for the tournament.

Tonje finished with 37 points on 10-for-19 shooting and connected on 14 of 16 free throws. Sophomore guard John Blackwell added 21 points and graduate center Steven Crowl finished with 10.

BYU, meanwhile, reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011.

The story most of the night, however, was UW's inability to string together enough stops to cut into what was an 11-point halftime lead for the Cougars and a 14-point advantage with 10½ minutes left.

BYU shot 49.2%, including 51.2% in the second half, and was 12 for 26 (46.2%) from three-point range. That execution as well as a strong night of work on the boards laid the groundwork for the Badgers loss.

John Tonje lead UW with 11 points during frustrating first half

Not much more could have gone worse for the Badgers in the first half.

They were out-rebounded, 26-14, and gave up nine offensive rebounds that led to 12 second-chance points. UW had a modest number of turnovers, but it seemed like the Cougars got points off each of them.

Wisconsin wasn’t even hitting its free throws. It missed the front ends of two bonuses and couldn’t completely cash in on two free throws that came after a BYU technical foul with 1:47 left.

Despite all those hurdles, the Badgers twice had a chance to cut into an eight-point deficit during the final minute of the half, but Blackwell missed a three-pointer and Crowl couldn’t finish down low.

BYU’s Trevin Knell, however, didn’t missed. His three-pointer just before the buzzer gave the Cougars a 47-36 lead at the half.

Tonje (11 points), Crowl (10) and Blackwell (10) combined for 31 points for the Badgers, who shot 38.7% overall and 5 for 17 (29.4%) from three-point range.

BYU was hitting a 47.2% clip overall and 42.9% rate (6 for 14) from three-point range.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin basketball's comeback vs. BYU falls short in March Madness

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