DENVER (AP) — BYU withstood a ferocious charge from Wisconsin’s John Tonje to hold off the Badgers for a 91-89 victory Saturday that sends the program to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011 — the days of Jimmer Fredette.
Tonje finished with 37 points, including eight during a desperate comeback down the stretch. But trailing by two, he shot a fadeaway air ball just before the buzzer that allowed the Cougars to escape.
Tonje was the first player to crack 30 points this year in March Madness.
Richie Saunders scored 25 for the sixth-seeded Cougars, who will play Alabama or St. Mary’s next Thursday in Newark at the East Regional.
The game turned out to be a thriller — a rarity so far in this tournament — even though BYU never trailed.
The Cougars (26-9) kept their lead between six and 12 points, but things turned when officials ejected BYU guard Dawson Baker after ruling he intentionally elbowed Wisconsin’s Max Klesmit in the groin during a scrum in the corner with 3:11 left.
Tonje took over from there, making a 3, two free throws and a three-point play to trim the deficit to two. Wisconsin (27-10) got a BYU miss with 13.5 seconds left, then worked the ball to Tonje, but with Mawot Mag draped all over him, the senior never got a good look.
The third-seeded Badgers became the first Big Ten team to lose in the tournament in which the conference started 10-0.
BYU, meanwhile, is celebrating in a way it hasn’t since the days Fredette became a college cult hero by rewriting the record book up in Provo in the early 2010s.
