The Badgers got their biggest win of the season on Saturday against Purdue.
In their biggest game of the season, the Wisconsin Badgers prevailed for a 94-84 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday, exploding in the second half for the win.
After a closely contested first half that Purdue controlled for the most part before Wisconsin marched back at the end, the Badgers used an 11-0 run early in the second half to take over and they never relinquished the lead in a tight battle from there on.
With the win, Wisconsin improved to 20-5 on the season and 10-4 in conference play, remaining in fourth in the Big Ten, but moving closer to the top of the standings.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 94-84 win over the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday.
Big three shows out
In a close game against a top-10 team in the country, the Badgers were going to need their stars to come to play.
And, with the game on the line in the second half, their big three showed out in a big way, leading to a 58-point half where the Badgers shot 72 percent from the field.
John Tonje was the star of the show, as he’s proven to be in the second half of many tough games for the Badgers. Coming off a 22-point outing against the Iowa Hawkeyes where he used his aggressiveness to get to the free throw line 10 times in the second half, Tonje broke the 30-point barrier on Saturday in the win.
He finished with 32 points, with 22 coming in the second half alone where Tonje shot 6/7 from the field, hit two threes, and got to the free throw line nine times, sinking eight of those attempts.
He scored 11 straight points for the Badgers in the second half, sparking the run that got them out in front, and sealed the deal at the end by being money from the free throw line.
John Blackwell was also an answer in the second half, scoring all of his 11 points in the period, attacking the rim hard to shoot 5/6 from the field over the final 20 minutes.
Max Klesmit was also aggressive, resulting in seven free-throw attempts in the second half, as the guard had 10 points in the period. The Badgers had a whopping 58 points in the second half on Saturday, and the top trio poured in 43 of those on 13/17 from the field.
Key bench minutes
Coming into Saturday, one of our three keys to win was getting an advantage with the bench minutes.
While Purdue had been one of the strongest teams in the country, it seemed the Badgers might have an advantage with their depth, and that showed out on Saturday.
Looking at the Badgers bench, several players made key contributions to the win. As he’s been a few times this season, Carter Gilmore was a leader in the team’s plus-minus, recording a +14 in the box score in his 24 minutes of action.
Kamari McGee had played only seven minutes in the first half before a controversial ejection, but he helped Wisconsin keep things a close game with some aggressiveness in the first half, resulting in four early points.
Then, filling in with a bigger role in the second half, Jack Janicki caught fire and scored 11 total points, shooting 4/6 from the field and hitting three three-pointers.
Purdue’s bench wasn’t bad, but the Badgers had the advantage there and got key contributions in the win from some of those key rotational pieces.
Greg Gard COY?
While the Badgers have been an underrated team this season, they didn’t really catch the national headlines as much before Saturday’s game, where a number of pundits pointed out their marquee win.
A storyline caught in the mix: Should Greg Gard be considered for the Coach of the Year Award?
Wisconsin has usually been a top-25 team in the country, but there’s a different level of optimism around this group of players, and Saturday’s win amplified that. Moreover, Gard and the Badgers were picked to finish in the bottom third of the Big Ten and now they’re fully in the mix for the Big Ten regular season title.
So, there seems to be a fair argument for Gard to win the esteemed award. Wisconsin has transformed their style of play, evolving their offense, which put up 94 points in a big win on Saturday.
But, their defense has been strong when needed as well, while the veteran-laden team has done well to close out games. Wisconsin was already seen as a No. 3 seed by the committee. Now, they could position themselves to move up even more with a strong finish to the season.