Fresh off an 86-70 win over the UCLA Bruins, the Wisconsin Badgers are taking on the Michigan State Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, with tip-off set for 12:00 p.m. central at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Friday’s tune was a much different game than Wisconsin’s 70-63 win over Northwestern on Thursday, as the Badgers got out to a hot start and didn’t look back, breaking records with their 19 threes in the victory over UCLA.
John Tonje was the star of the show, scoring 26 points on an incredible 9/10 from the field, including a perfect 6/6 from three. He, along with John Blackwell, set the tone early with a pair of threes, and he was on fire the rest of the well.
Blackwell had 18 of his own in a productive performance, shooting efficiently from the field, as well as from three, as he looked to be aggressive, even finding his teammates with four assists.
The Badgers had great ball movement, assisting on 22 of their 30 field goals in the win, as they broke down UCLA’s defense to create open, efficient shots.
Defensively, Wisconsin was stout once again, holding the Bruins to just 32.4 percent from the field, which was even elevated due to an 11-0 run to end the game when the Badgers pulled their starters.
Wisconsin shut down UCLA’s offense inside the arc, which was their issue back in January, and the Bruins couldn’t get anything going as a result, even with a whopping 20 offensive rebounds.
Now, they turn their heads to the top-seeded Michigan State Spartans, who beat the Oregon Ducks 74-64 in the semifinals on Saturday in their first action at the Big Ten Tournament.
The two teams played back in early March, where the Spartans beat the Badgers 71-62 in a closely-contested game.
Wisconsin struggled badly from three in that one, shooting 5/32 beyond the arc, but they were without Max Klesmit in that one.
Now at full strength, they’ll be in a tough battle with one of the top defenses in the country on Saturday, with a trip to the Big Ten Tournament Championship on the line.
Entering the game, the Badgers are 3.5-point underdogs against the Spartans on Saturday, moving noticeably from the opening line of 1.5 points. Can they get revenge on the Spartans just like they did with the Bruins?
