DENVER — 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 in the tournament this year. The third-seeded Badgers (27-10) became the first Big Ten team to lose after the conference’s 10-0 start.
Richie Saunders scored 25 for the sixth-seeded Cougars, who will play Alabama or St. Mary’s on Thursday in the East Region in Newark, N.J.
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 minutes, 11 seconds left.
Tonje took over from there, making a 3 and two free throws and converting a three-point play to trim the deficit to two. Wisconsin 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.
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.