3 things that stood out from Wisconsin men's basketball's upset of No. 9 Arizona

The Badgers exploded to a 103-88 win over No. 9 Arizona (2-1) in front of a sold-out Kohl Center crowd.

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It was Wisconsin coach Greg Gard’s 13th win over a top 10 team and the first time the Badgers have accomplished the feat in the month of November. It happened due to one of the best performances in recent memory. Wisconsin graduate guard John Tonje scored 41 points, just two shy of Frank Kaminsky’s program-best 43 on Nov. 19, 2013, against North Dakota. Wisconsin’s 103 points fell two short of the Kohl Center scoring record of 105 points, set against Arkansas State in the season opener last year. 

But the stage for Tonje and Wisconsin could not have been bigger. 

"Obviously, a tremendous night for our program," Gard said, as the Badgers honored the back-to-back Final Four teams and their former coach Bo Ryan in ceremonies Friday.

The first possession of the game seemed like a broken one for the Badgers (4-0). Tonje picked up his dribble and was hounded. A defender draped his outlet, graduate forward Steven Crowl.

Tonje passed to Crowl, who fed him back for a layup plus a foul. Wisconsin scored the first seven points, and Tonje accounted for seven of the team’s first nine points to open the game on a 9-2 run.

Sophomore guard John Blackwell got the better of Wildcats senior Caleb Love in a brief dustup, drawing a technical and four free throws. Wisconsin made all four, and Max Klesmit stepped back into a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to complete a 7-0 run to push Wisconsin’s lead to 16-8.

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"That's what you get when you just got a lot of like-minded guys who can come in and compete day in and day out," Klesmit said. "Doesn't really change when you got to go out there and perform on the court."

Wisconsin weathered some sloppier play, which helped Arizona go on an 11-0 run to cut the Badgers’ lead to just seven points, but Wisconsin went to the half with a 55-44 lead.

The Wildcats started the second half off with a 7-0 run and later used an 8-0 run to tie the game at 65-65 with 14:06 left in the game.

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The Wildcats had an answer each time Wisconsin’s offense slowed. The Badgers needed to hit big shots to win, and they got them during a 16-6 run to gain separation. 

Wisconsin’s defense forced Arizona into misses on 14 of its last 15 shots to end the game, and the Badgers leave Friday with a win that changes the expectation for a new group.

"We were just all kind of talking about in the locker room," Klesmit said, "this is a night we'll never forget."

Here are three things that stood out.

John Tonje emerges as a star

It became a trend: Seemingly whenever Tonje put his head down, the whistle blew. He showed all the savvy in his game, putting a talented group of Arizona players in consistently bad positions when guarding him. They would either foul him, or risk him raising the energy of the crowd by driving to the basket, taking the Wildcats’ bumps and finishing through contact.

Tonje exploded for 41 points, including 22 in the first half Friday. He shot 8 of 14 from the field, taking difficult shots and making difficult shots. Through four games, Tonje is the clear offensive answer the Badgers had been searching for this offseason to fill the void of last season’s leading scorer AJ Storr, who transferred to Kansas this offseason.

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"As far as (joining) Wisconsin," Tonje said, "I (wanted) to be a part of a night like this."

Free throws boost the Badgers

If there was an aspect of Wisconsin’s first three games that translated against a top-10 opponent, it was its ability to get to and make at the free throw line. The Badgers shot 41 of 47 from the free throw line Friday, drawing 15 first-half fouls as it spent more than half of the first 20 minutes in the bonus.

The Badgers led the country in free throw percentage entering Friday, shooting 92.5% from the line. But they ranked 257th per KenPom with just a 29.1% free-throw rate. That wasn’t a problem Friday.

"Our mindset, mentality coming to this game was just to bring it to them and not wait for them to hit us first," Tonje said. "And I think it really just showed how many times I got fouled."

Xavier Amos shows confidence

Though it probably won’t be remembered as a strong play for the junior forward, the reason Xavier Amos took and missed short a deep 3-pointer on the left wing with 12:09 left in the second half — the Badgers nursing a 70-66 lead on the Wildcats — is because he had seen a few fall before.

Friday provided the best minutes of the season for Amos. He connected on several deep 3s in big moments, but also delivered eight points and two rebounds, and played solid defense throughout.