Wisconsin's John Tonje is the perfect star for this Big Ten tournament

INDIANAPOLIS — In a college sports world gone mad, we still have Michigan State and Wisconsin.

We still have Tom Izzo and Greg Gard, to be more precise.

Izzo the Spartans lifer, from Iron Mountain, Michigan, on Jud Heathcoate’s bench for 12 years as a fresh-faced assistant, now 30 seasons into an all-time-great run as head coach, still churning out winners at the age of — where does it go? — 70.

And there’s Gard, from tiny Cobb, Wisconsin — a dead-on hour west of Madison in case you were thinking about visiting — a man who sat at Bo Ryan’s side for 15 years before sliding over into the big chair, and now, at 54, already is in season No. 10 as the Big Red boss.

Add Gard’s years at his school to Izzo’s at his and you get 67, more than half their combined years on Earth. That’s why a sense of longevity hung in the air as their teams met Saturday in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, a tense, brutish, riveting game won by the Badgers 77-74.

But this is college basketball in the transfer-portal era, when it’s almost an upset if any player stays anywhere more than 67 games. That made it fitting that the biggest deal in the building was a well-traveled star in his first — and last — year at Wisconsin and in the Big Ten, all-conference guard John Tonje.

The sixth-year graduate student strapped the fifth-seeded Badgers (26-8) to his back and attacked the top-seeded Spartans (27-6) with one of the fiercest individual efforts in the history of this tournament, scoring 14 of his team’s 16 points during a second-half stretch that took the Badgers from behind 45-41 to ahead 57-52 with 7:57 left to play.

It started with a long turnaround jumper that ended an 8-0 Spartans run. Then came a pair of free throws, a three-pointer and — after a slick assist to Carter Gilmore for a dunk — a relentless drive into heavy contact for a three-point play. A step-back two came next, then a step-back three.

It was sensational, and Tonje would end up scoring a Wisconsin tournament-record 32 points. After missing two from the foul line in the late seconds, he also poked the ball away from Jeremy Fears as the Spartans guard rose for a long three-point attempt at the buzzer.

“He cut loose a little bit,” Izzo said, “and that’s what great players do.”

But Tonje hasn’t always been like this. He played four seasons at Colorado State, where he didn’t even become a full-time starter until he was a senior. With an extra COVID-19 year of eligibility in his pocket, he transferred to Missouri but played eight games there — starting only half of them on a team that would go 0-18 in the SEC — before a season-ending injury.

A medical redshirt allowed him to sign with Wisconsin — after first committing to New Mexico — and tee it up one more time.

With the Badgers, he took off in a manner few, if any, saw coming. He popped Arizona for 41 points in November. He dropped 32 on Purdue on the road in March. Another 32-spot against the Spartans made him the first college player since UConn’s Kemba Walker in 2010-11 to have 30-point games in three wins over top-10 teams in the same season.

How does a guy go from Mountain West reserve to best player on the floor — and leading candidate for tournament MVP — on the grandest Big Ten stage?

“A state of progression and just belief in myself,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of you. As long as you believe in yourself and put the work in, you can essentially do what you would like to do.”

The Badgers, tournament runners-up a year ago, getting back to the championship game — against Michigan at 2:30 p.m. Sunday — is a late chapter in an unlikely story. Last season’s top scorer, AJ Storr, was lured away by Kansas. Last season’s top player, longtime point guard Chucky Hepburn, transferred to Louisville. Cha-ching for both, but it left the Badgers in a real spot.

Tonje showed up and changed everything.

“He’s one heck of a player,” Gard said. More importantly, he’s an even better person, and that’s why it fits so well with our team.”