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A hot team that is a bad matchup for its frontcourt, No.19 Wisconsin had to get creative with its defensive lineup and lean on John Blackwell to pull out an 87-84 victory over UTRGV Monday.

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MADISON, Wis. – Following a historic performance in which he scored a career-high 41 points in a win over No. 9 Arizona, Wisconsin graduate student John Tonje was recognized as the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday.

The guard from North Omaha, Nebraska, led Wisconsin in a 103-88 win over the Wildcats this past Friday at the Kohl Center. Tonje is the fourth Badger in program history to score 40 points, finishing just two points shy of matching the single-game program scoring record (43).

Tonje did, however, break the single-game school record making 21 free throws, going 21-for-22 at the line. He finished 8-for-14 from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range, adding 6 rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Tonje is the first Badger to be named Big Ten Player of the Week since Johnny Davis in 2022. Davis received the honor three times that season and was named Big Ten Player of the Year.

Tonje’s performance on Friday was notable:

• Tonje’s 41 points were the most scored by a player in a win over an AP Top-10 opponent since 2016 when Kentucky’s Malik Monk scored 47 in a win over No. 7 North Carolina.
• In fact, it’s the fifth-most points in a win over an AP Top-10 team in Big Ten history.
• Tonje is the only Big Ten player since 2004-05 to score 40+ points and make 20+ FTs in the same game.
• Tonje is the only player over the last 30 years to score 40 points and make 20 free throws in a game against an AP Top-10 opponent.
• Tonje scored 14 points on only 14 shots. No Division I player has scored that many points on only 14 shots since at least 2011.
• Tonje scored 22 first-half points, the most for a Badger in a half since Brad Davison vs. Michigan State on Feb. 25, 2028 (23 points).

Tonje ranks third in the Big Ten this season averaging a team-leading 23.5 points per game, to go along with 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest.

No. 19 Wisconsin hosts UT Rio Grande Valley on Monday night at the Kohl Center.

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No changes

IMO... When Jack Coan was ready to come back from his injury and we went with the sexy decision of Mertz. Coan was a hard working leader that had the respect of the players, was accurate and was what Wisconsin football was all about. He had another year left as well. I just think from that point the hard hitting and
physical nature of us changed.

Of course we would still have had to revamp the recruiting department from ground zero and adapt to NIL/TP but things would be much different now.

We'll get back there! And when we do it's going to be sweet.

Now this is all hindsight, When was your turning point...

Was OC at OSU while Fickell was the DC

Could be nothing, probably is nothing, but the timing is interesting.

Rumor has it that he has been terminated. Let’s see if it hits the press by tomorrow.