Nolan Kromke

Box Score

Arizona UA 2-1,0-0 Big 12

103

Wisconsin Wisc 4-0,0-0 Big Ten

Arizona UA

2-1,0-0 Big 12

Final

Nov. 15, 2024

103

Wisconsin Wisc

4-0,0-0 Big Ten

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Arizona UA	44	44	88
Wisconsin Wisc	55	48	103

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | November 15, 2024

Wisconsin upsets No. 9 Arizona

Tonje scores career high 41 points for Badgers

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — John Tonje had a career-high 41 points — two shy of the Wisconsin record — to lead the Badgers over No. 9 Arizona 103-88 on Friday night.

Wisconsin (4-0) never trailed, and fans stormed the Kohl Center court after the final horn.

Tonje shot 8 for 14 from the floor, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and was 21 for 22 at the foul line. His 21 free throws set a school mark.

Wisconsin's scoring record is held by Frank Kaminsky, who attended Friday's game as part of a ceremony honoring the Badgers' 2014 and 2015 Final Four teams. Kaminsky scored 43 against North Dakota on Nov. 19, 2013.

Jaden Bradley had 22 points, Trey Townsend added 17 and KJ Lewis 15 for Arizona (2-1). John Blackwell scored 14 and Max Klesmit 13 for Wisconsin.

Wisconsin raised a banner bearing the name of former coach Bo Ryan into the Kohl Center rafters at halftime. Ryan was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last month.

Takeaways

Arizona: The Wildcats couldn't overcome a rough night for preseason Associated Press All-America guard Caleb Love, who shot 2 of 13 and scored six points before fouling out with 4:57 left.

Wisconsin: After squandering an 18-point lead, Wisconsin wasted no time regaining control as the Badgers avenged a 98-73 loss to Arizona last season.

Key moment

Arizona rallied to tie it 65-all with 14:13 left on Lewis' layup that capped an 8-0 run. Blackwell put Wisconsin back ahead for good with 13:36 remaining. After that tying basket by Lewis, Arizona missed its next six field goal attempts.

Key stats

The game featured a combined 63 fouls (32 by Arizona) and 87 free throws. Wisconsin was 41 of 47 from the line. Arizona was 28 of 40.

Notable:

Wisconsin went 41-for-47 (87.2%) from the free throw line and is now shooting an NCAA-leading 90.0% (90-for-100) from the charity stripe on the season.
Wisconsin's 41 makes at the line tied UW's program record – 41 at Illinois, Jan. 1, 1955.
John Tonje posted a 21-for-22 clip from the line, good for the most makes in school history. The previous high was 17 by Dale Koehler (Dec. 6, 1975) and Nigel Hayes (Jan. 26, 2016).
Wisconsin's 103 points were its most against a ranked opponent in program history. The Badgers broke the century mark for the first time against a ranked opponent since Feb.10, 1970 at No. 14 Iowa (L, 100-119).
Wisconsin scored 100+ points for the first time against a Power 5 school since posting 101 vs. Northwestern on Feb. 3, 1993.
Graduate student John Tonje poured in a career-high 41 points, the most for a Badger since Frank Kaminsky tallied 43, the UW program record, in a win over North Dakota (Nov. 19, 2013). Kaminsky was inside the Kohl Center on Friday night.
Arizona did not hold the lead during the game. The game was tied for only 1:06.
Friday night's 15-point win was UW's largest over a Top-10 team since Largest margin of victory against a Top Ten team since a 67-49 win (18 points) over No. 5 Michigan State on Feb. 2, 2010.
The victory was UW's first ranked win since March 16, 2024 vs. No. 3 Purdue. The win was UW's first ranked win during the regular season since knocking off No. 3 Marquette on Dec. 2, 2023.

Quotable:

Head Coach Greg Gard opening statement:
"As I told these guys in the locker room, it exemplifies how special it is to be part of this program, how important playing for the front of the jersey is, and they got a chance to experience how special this place is tonight.Obviously, we packed a lot in with two teams back and coach Ryan having the banner raised, and then how these guys played. I mean, I think I was most proud of the response when it was 65 all, that showed me the guts and toughness that is starting to develop with this group, and I've always felt we could score, but we had to add some other things to our repertoire, and it's a good step in the right direction."

Senior guard Max Klesmit on the game's atmosphere:
"This is a night we will never forget. Having a team like Arizona, who's really good at basketball, well-coached team coming in here and being able to have the Kohl Center full. It's everything you dream of as a kid, being an in-state kid is cool, too. But, I know like we all dream about playing in full arenas with a top-10 team coming in. I don't know if 100 [points] is what we can expect, but I think this team has a lot of different options."

Sophomore guard John Blackwell on Jack Janicki's performance:
"He just plays the game the right way. As you can see, he gets rewarded for it. Doesn't do anything special, but just plays the game, plays hard, makes the right reads and makes the open shots. So, I'm proud of him."

Graduate forward John Tonje on drawing fouls:
"I just think being aggressive, our mindset and mentality coming into this game was just to bring it to them, and not wait for them to hit us first. I think it really showed just on how many times I got fouled."