Denver, CO–In the final matchup at Denver’s Ball Arena, the No.6 seed BYU Cougars took on the No. 3 seed Wisconsin Badgers in an awesome showdown. Richie Saunders and the Cougars got off to a quick start, taking the first lead of the game playing off an offensive rebound turned second chance, which would be the first of many in the first half.
BYU dominated the glass with nine offensive rebounds that turned into 12 points. They shot the ball well at 47% from the field and made 6-14 3-point shots. John Tonje scored 11 points, leading the way with an additional 10 points from Steven Crowl and John Black to score 31 of Wisconsin’s 36 points first-half points.
The Cougars, led by Saunders’ 12 points, took an 11 point lead into the half 47-36. It was the largest halftime deficit of the season for Wisconsin. BYU is 18-0 this season when leading by 6 or more at half.
In the second half, the Badgers were able to chip away at the lead cutting the game to 4 points 52-48 with back to back 3-point shots. Saunders responded with 4 straight points to end the short run. Tonje, staying aggressive for Wisconsin, was fouled on a 3-point shot where he made all 3 free throws while totaling 20 points.
Wisconsin went cold going almost 4:56 minutes without making any fuel goals. With 3:11 left in the game, Dawson Baker was ejected for a low blow to the groin gifting Wisconsin 2 free throws and the ball to cut the lead to 8.
The shift in momentum allowed the Badgers to make the game interesting in the final 2 minutes by converting two separate and-1 plays off a steal and turnover by an out-of-bounds play to make the score 91-89 with 1:00 remaining.
After two big defensive stops, Tonje had an opportunity to tie the game with possession and 13 seconds left on the clock but failed to convert allowing the BYU cougars to move on to the sweet 16 under Kevin Young’s first year as head coach.
When asked about what happened in the final moments of the game, coach Young said “Talent” adding, “Tonje is one of the best players in the country and tonight’s performance of 37 points proved it”.
The way in which Tonje was able to attack the defense and score from every spot on the floor was truly spectacular in such a dominating performance. He converted 14-16 free throws, just as many free throws BYU shot as a team. Wisconsin were able to produce 3 points off the bench compared to BYU’s 24 and ultimately were unable to overcome the consistency of BYU.
Cougar’s fans made a big impact once again. After the game BYU head coach Kevin Young gave another shoutout to the Cougar nation, saying he couldn’t describe the energy in the building, “at some points it felt like a home game.” Moving onto the next round, BYU will face the winner of the (7) Saint Mary’s vs (2) Alabama in the sweet 16.
