(UW ATHLETICS) MADISON, Wis. — Graduate transfer guard John Tonje scored 22 points to lead No. 15 Wisconsin en route to a 74-53 win over Chicago State on Saturday afternoon at the Kohl Center.
With the win, the Badgers remained an unbeaten 8-0 for the first time since also doing so in 2013-14 when they reached the Final Four.
Senior forward Steven Crowl tallied nine points, while also tallying team highs in rebounds (7), assists (5) and blocks (3).
Nolan Winter chipped in 12 points, posting his third consecutive double-digit scoring effort. The sophomore forward was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field.
Defensively, Wisconsin held the Cougars to 6-of-24 shooting from 3-point range. Chicago State shot just 33.9 percent (20-59 FG) from the floor.
Ricardo Greppi scored his first career points as a Badger, sinking a pair of free throws late in the game.
Notable:
MADISON, Wis. — Graduate transfer guard John Tonje scored 22 points to lead No. 15 Wisconsin en route to a 74-53 win over Chicago State on Saturday afternoon at the Kohl Center.
With the win, the Badgers remained an unbeaten 8-0 for the first time since also doing so in 2013-14 when they reached the Final Four.
Senior forward Steven Crowl tallied nine points, while also tallying team highs in rebounds (7), assists (5) and blocks (3).
Nolan Winter chipped in 12 points, posting his third consecutive double-digit scoring effort. The sophomore forward was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field.
Defensively, Wisconsin held the Cougars to 6-of-24 shooting from 3-point range. Chicago State shot just 33.9 percent (20-59 FG) from the floor.
Ricardo Greppi scored his first career points as a Badger, sinking a pair of free throws late in the game.
Notable:
- Wisconsin is 8-0 to open the season for the first time since 2013-14 and just the fourth time in the NCAA tournament era (since 1938-39).
- Wisconsin is the first Big Ten team to reach 8 wins on the season (Oregon, 7-0, plays Alabama Saturday evening. Nationally, the Badgers became just the second Power 5 Conference team to reach the 8-win mark, joining Florida (8-0).
- Wisconsin went 10-for-30 from 3-point range. The Badgers have hit 10+ triples in 5 of 8 games this season after doing so a total of 7 times in 2023-24.
- The Badgers turned the ball over 8 times. UW has now had 10 or fewer turnovers in 5 of 8 games this season and are averaging 9.3 per game.
- Wisconsin went 18-for-21 (85.7%) from the free throw line and is now shooting an NCAA-leading 86.4% (165-for-191) from the charity stripe on the season.
- Graduate student John Tonje finished with a game-high 22 points, to go along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Tonje reached the 20-point mark for the 4th time this season. He is 1 of 4 players in the Big Ten with four 20-point efforts on the year, joining Dylan Harper (Rutgers), Nick Martinelli (Northwestern) and Dawson Garcia (Minnesota).
- Sophomore Nolan Winter netted 12 points (4-4 FGs) and 6 rebounds. Winter scored in double figures for the third straight game and the 5th time this season. Entering this season, his career high was 7 points.
- Senior Steven Crowl tallied 9 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and matched his career high with 3 blocks. Saturday marked Crowl’s 9th career game with 5+ assists and the 5th time he has posted at least 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Quotable:
Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard (opening statement): “Obviously, I thought the second half we shot the ball better. Simple post touches got us to the free throw line, simple post touches got us wide open threes. We share the ball really well; we got 17 assists on 23 baskets.”
Sophomore Nolan Winter (on defensive adjustments in the second half): “There was a lot of leadership in the locker room mainly on the defensive side, we knew we were better than that. To come out and kind of make a statement like that with a 17-3 run, it was good to see. You know, we got a lot of room to grow on the defensive end, but we’re going to try and keep building on that second half.”
Steven Crowl (on entering Big Ten play): “I think we’re all excited to play some bigger-named teams and some Big Ten teams. Like I said, I think we’re just looking forward to it. Michigan is coming off of a championship down in Fort Myers, so they’re going to come in here hungry. We’re all looking forward to those bigger-time games for sure.”
Up Next:
Wisconsin tips off Big Ten Conference play hosting Michigan at the Kohl Center on Tuesday at 8 p.m. (CT).
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