WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — John Tonje scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half, and No. 19 Wisconsin came back to beat Pittsburgh 81-75 in the championship of the Greenbrier Tip-Off on Sunday night.
John Blackwell added 14 points, Nolan Winter had 11 and Kamari McGee scored 10 for Wisconsin. The Badgers’ 7-0 start is the first since the 2014-15 season, when they lost to Duke in the national championship.
Ishmael Leggett scored 17 points, Cameron Corhen added 16 and Jaland Lowe had 15 for Pittsburgh (6-1).
Wisconsin trailed by as many as 14 points late in the first half. Tonje scored 11 points in a three-minute stretch, including a layup with 11:15 remaining, to give the Badgers a 51-49 lead, their first since scoring the game’s first basket.
McGee’s 3-pointer with 6:19 remaining put Wisconsin ahead 65-62, and it didn’t trail again.
Takeaways
Wisconsin: Tonje, a transfer from Missouri, missed his first six shots and went scoreless over the first 12 minutes, putting Wisconsin in a double-digit hole. He went 9 of 11 after halftime, finished 11 of 19 overall and made all 10 free-throw attempts.
Pittsburgh: Damian Dunn, Pittsburgh’s third-leading scorer at 13 points per game, landed awkwardly after a shot attempt two minutes into the game, limped off the court and did not return.
Key moment
After Pittsburgh pulled within 71-70 on Zack Austin’s 3-pointer with 3:30 left, Wisconsin finished the game on a 10-5 run.
Key stat
Wisconsin shot 60% (18 of 30) from the floor in the second half after missing all 10 3-point attempts in the first half.
Up next
Pittsburgh plays at Ohio State on Friday while Wisconsin hosts Chicago State on Saturday.
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