Wisconsin basketball BYU tournament game takeaways

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The Wisconsin Badgers saw their 2024-25 season come to an unfortunate end with a 91-89 loss to BYU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

BYU, far better than its No. 6 seed indicates, controlled the game through its first 38 minutes. The Cougars built a decisive advantage through relentless offense (Wisconsin’s season-high in points allowed), efficiency from the free-throw line (15-of-16, 93.8%) and dominance on the offensive glass (13 offensive rebounds).

That last category jumped off the stat sheet as BYU built an 11-point halftime lead — the Cougars grabbed 26 total rebounds to the Badgers’ 14 in the first frame, with nine offensive boards to Wisconsin’s 10 on the defensive end. Where Wisconsin had a perceived advantage in physicality and interior scoring, BYU was better. The same can be said at the free-throw line, arguably Wisconsin’s No. 1 strength.

BYU played like the better overall team. That was, until the last two minutes of action.

Wisconsin executed a 9-2 run from the 1:47-minute mark in the second half to 1:00. That cut BYU’s lead to just two points, 91-89. The Badgers would eventually get a stop on a possession that lasted 47 seconds. However, John Tonje’s heroic bid to force overtime fell just short. As the clock finally hit 0:00, the Badgers’ season came to an all-too-familiar disappointing end.

Tonje was sensational in the loss. His performance is one of our major postgame takeaways:

Wisconsin’s stars showed up

John Tonje finished with 37 points, four rebounds and four assists on 10-of-18 shooting and 14-of-16 from the foul line. He was sensational. The only real second guess is his decision to hold the ball until the final buzzer, as opposed to attempting a three-pointer with time left on the clock, which would have allowed Wisconsin a chance to foul if the shot missed.

John Blackwell also pitched in 21 points, six rebounds and three assists. He was key in the team’s resurgent second-half run. Both he and Tonje did their part on the offensive end.

The same…

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Source link : https://badgerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/badgers/mens-basketball/2025/03/22/wisconsin-byu-game-takeaways/82620903007/

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Publish date : 2025-03-23 04:19:00

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