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Wisconsin's John Tonje in action vs. Purdue.
College Football

Wisconsin rides magnificent John Tonje performance to road win over Purdue

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Wisconsin is not dead yet in the race to the Big Ten regular season title, and the Badgers delivered a marquee win with a brilliant 94-84 win at Purdue on Saturday. John Tonje was once again the leader for Greg Gard’s unit with an effort that is staggering in its efficiency.

Tonje led Wisconsin with 10 first-half points as the Badgers hung tight with the Boilermakers carrying a 37-36 lead into the break. But the 2nd half is when Tonje and the Badgers truly came alive down the stretch.

Wisconsin scored 58 points in the 2nd half with Tonje exploding for 22 points in the final 20 minutes of the game. He was a staggering 6-for-7 from the floor after halftime with his only miss coming from 3-point range.

Overall, Tonje finished his offensive clinic with a game-high 32 points while shooting 10-of-15 from the floor. He was 4-for-9 from 3-point range, meaning he was perfect from within the arc for the Badgers.

Combined with his 8-for-9 shooting from the free-throw line, Tonje wound up with an effective field goal percentage of 80% to pace Wisconsin. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg in a game that produced video game-like efficiency numbers for both teams.

In a losing effort, Purdue was led by Trey Kaufman-Renn with 30 points, and the Boilermakers shot a staggering 51.8% from the floor. The deep ball was also a non-issue with Purdue finishing 45.5% (10-for-22) from 3-point range. Purdue also had just 4 turnovers (and only 1 after the break) in a game that Matt Painter’s squad somehow lost by 10 points.

The issue for Purdue involved its defense where Wisconsin put on a thorough masterpiece offensively.

The Badgers managed to shoot 61.5% from the floor and 40% (12-for-30) from 3-point range. With 3-point attempts removed, Wisconsin ended the game 20-for-22 from inside the arc. That’s a 90.9% shooting percentage on 2-point attempts!

Impact on the Big Ten

Following Wisconsin’s win, the Badgers are now 1.5 games behind B1G-leading Michigan heading into a Sunday game for the Wolverines. Purdue at 11-4 now falls a full game behind Michigan and into a 2nd-place tie with Michigan State.

Behind the Badgers, UCLA stands just 2 games off the league lead as we hit the final stretch. This race is far from being decided, and use the Maryland betting sites for all the action this basketball season.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.