John Tonje went almost 35 minutes without missing a field-goal attempt to lead No. 18 Wisconsin to a 86-70 blowout of UCLA in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals on Friday in Indianapolis.
Tonje connected on his first nine shots from the floor and went 6-of-6 from 3-point range for a game-high 26 points. The fifth-seeded Badgers (25-8) made a Big Ten tournament record-tying 19 of their 32 attempts from beyond the arc in the game.
Wisconsin matched the mark Iowa set in 2022 when it hit 19 of 29 in a win over Northwestern.
The Badgers advance to Saturday’s semifinals to face No. 7 Michigan State, the tournament’s top seed which knocked off Oregon 74-64 on Friday.
On Friday, Wisconsin went 5:28 into the game before getting its first points from inside the arc. Tonje and John Blackwell each hit a pair of 3-pointers for the Badgers’ first 12 points.
Tonje added another two, and along with a pair of Steven Crowl baskets in the interior, Wisconsin held a 22-14 lead at the under-12-minute media timeout of the first half.
Fourth-seeded UCLA (22-10) did not get within seven points the rest of the way.
Wisconsin’s 3-point barrage continued, with the Badgers shooting 12 of 19 in the first half. The lead grew to 19 points by intermission, and Tonje had 13 points, four rebounds and four assists by the break.
He finished with a game high-tying nine rebounds to complement his explosive scoring performance. Blackwell added 18 points and shot 4 of 8 from long distance.
Blackwell helped stem the tide as UCLA mounted a brief rally to start the second half. The Bruins went on a quick, 7-0 run to pull within 12, but Blackwell answered with a 3-pointer set up by a Xavier Amos assist off after his offensive rebound.
After falling behind by 22 points, UCLA battled back to cut the deficit to 14 points on a Dylan Andrews 3-pointer with 11:25 remaining. Wisconsin then exploded for a 15-2 run that put the game away.
Kamari McGee, who shot 3-of-3 from outside, scored 14 points and dished four assists for the Badgers.
Sebastian Mack led UCLA with 18 points before fouling out. Kobe Johnson was the only other Bruin scorer in double figures with 14 points. Tyler Bilodeau matched Tonje’s game-high nine rebounds, but he shot just 1 of 7 from the floor in 18 minutes and finished with two points.
–Field Level Media
