MADISON – After Wisconsin disposed of Purdue on Saturday afternoon, John Tonje reflected on the state of his game.
Is this the best you’ve ever played he was asked.
“Yes, I think so,” he said. “Yes.”
These days the 6-foot-5 graduate guard’s play speaks volumes. He doesn’t have to say much.
Tonje has been on a heater for the past month with the majority of that run coming as the Badgers navigated the most challenging portion of their regular-season schedule. In the last eight games, UW has played on both coasts, faced six road contests and emerged with a 6-2 record. At the moment, the team is projected as a No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament.
During that stretch Tonje has solidified himself as a tough-shot maker, clutch performer and contender for a couple of the top awards in college basketball.
“There was a stretch there where he wasn’t shooting as well, but in the last six games he’s on fire,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey said after UW’s 74-63 win in Iowa City on Feb. 8.
John Tonje raised his three-point shooting to 40.4%
Since then Tonje added another victim to the list. In the last seven games he is averaging 24.3 points per game while shooting 53.5% overall and 48.3% from three-point range. His 32-point performance against Purdue marked the sixth time in the last seven games he reached at least 20 points.
Next up: Illinois, which handed the Badgers an 86-80 loss Dec. 10 that dropped them to 0-2 in the Big Ten.
When the teams met two months ago, Tonje was in the midst of an ebb in his season when his shooting percentages were down as teams perhaps got a better scouting report on him. What we’ve seen in the last month has been Tonje’s response to the adjustments teams made on him.
“If you’re going to be at an elite level you’re going to have a guy who can really carry the water,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “He doesn’t have to do it every night, but when they get going they’re really good.”
Tonje’s play has helped UW climb to No. 11 in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls, its highest ranking of the season.
Tonje’s shooting percentage during his hot streak is on par with what you would see of a post player who takes most of his shots in the paint. His three-point percentage during the run is 13 percentage points higher than it was before the stretch, work that has pushed his three-point percentage for the season to 40.4%.
Tonje on midseason lists for Naismith, Oscar Robertson honors
The work hasn’t gone without notice. Tonje recently made the midseason team for the Naismith Award and midseason watch list Oscar Robertson Trophy, two national player of the year awards. He is also ranked seventh in the KenPom.com metric for player of the year.
How has he done it?
The simple answer is that he has attacked when he feels teams pressuring him at the three-point line and that has allowed him to set up the defense for a step-back threes. Having a handful of teammates capable of penetrating the lane and willing to make the extra pass have also helped create looks on the perimeter.
“He’s a big guard who can play in space and get down hill,” Gard said. “He’s such a threat from three and he’s got teammates who will find him and we can spread the floor around him, too.
“It’s not like you can park a guy at the rim and wait for him because our bigs will all shoot it.”
In the first meeting with Illinois, Tonje hit 5 of 15 shots, was 2 for 7 from three-point range and got to the line twice. He finished with 14 points, though the game was marked by long stretches when he went without a bucket in the second half.
But lately his best ball has come during the final 20 minutes.
At Iowa, he drew five fouls during the final 10 minutes and scored 12 of his 22 points during the final 8 minutes 35 seconds.
Saturday, he scored 22 points in the second half on 6-for-7 shooting. He had 13 points during a 4-minute span early in the second half that prevented Purdue from taking advantage of a hot start of its own.
It was a pivotal point in a game where both teams put points on the board.
“He can really score,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “You see that 41-point game he had against Arizona where he got to the free throw line (22) times. He’s just great at driving the basketball, but (against us) he hit a step-back three in the corner down on their end that was big time. Then he hits another and then you foul him.
“So right there in a row he gets quick points for them. And we’re scoring … Right away I remember looking up and seeing we can’t make a run.”
