2025 B1G Ten Men’s Basketball Championship Semifinals presented by TIAA

March 14, 2025  Semifinals

(Both on CBS)

Game 12:  Wisconsin 77 Michigan State 74  

by: Nick Jenkinson, Excel H Sports

photos by: Tony Harper, Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

Social Media Influencer: Cainan Harper

John Tonje’s 32 points leads the Badgers over the Top Seeded Spartans

Gilmore Breaks Up Final Pass

The #5 Wisconsin Badgers knocked off the top seed Michigan State Spartans 77-74 in the Semifinals of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament Presented by TIAA Saturday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Wisconsin improves to 25-8 on the season and advances to tomorrow’s championship game at 3:30 PM against Michigan or Maryland.

Wisconsin will make their 9th Big Ten Tournament Championship game appearance and second in a row after losing to Illinois 93-87 in Minneapolis a year ago. Wisconsin has won three Big Ten Tournament titles in. 2004, 2008 and 2015. The Badgers were runners up in 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2024.

John Tonje for Two

John Tonje scored 32 points to lead the Badgers going 8–15 from the field, 4-10 from three-point range and 12-14 from the free throw line along with 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. John Blackwell scored 14 points and Carter Gilmore added 10 points off the bench for the Badgers.

John Blackwell for three

Wisconsin went 23-54 from the field for 42 percent, 9-29 from three-point range for 31 percent and 22-28 from the free throw line for 78 percent. The Badgers pulled down 33 rebounds, dished out 15 assists, 4 blocks, 3 steals and committed 7 turnovers.

Jeremy Fears, Jr.

Jase Richardson led the Spartans with 21 points as Michigan State is 27-6 on the season and wait until 6 PM tomorrow night to hear their named called in the upcoming NCAA tournament. Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 14 points and Tre Holloman added 10 points off the bench. Carson Cooper pulled down 10 rebounds.

Michigan State went 24-59 from the field for 40 percent, 7-19 from three-point range for 36 percent and 19-24 from the free throw line for 79 percent. The Spartans pulled down 37 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 blocks, a steal and committed 7 turnovers.

Wisconsin led 37-31 at halftime and Spartans outscored the Badgers 41-40 in the second half. One of the most unusual plays occurred with 4:54 left in the first half when Michigan State lost the ball and the hit the official and stayed in bounds there was no whistle and John Blackwell picked it up and went the other way and Jaden Akins came down and blocked the shot.

John Blackwell hit two free throws with 31 seconds to give Wisconsin a 74-70 lead. Jase Richardson hit two free throws with 22 seconds to make it 74-72. Nolan Winter hit a free throw to give Wisconsin a 75-72 lead with 21 seconds left. Jeremy Fears Jr. hit two free throws to make it 75-74 with 14 seconds left. John Tonje went to the line and hit two free throws to make it 77-74 with 14 seconds left.

Tre Holloman’s three pointer was blocked by Carter Gilmore with 8 seconds left. John Tonje for the rebound and was fouled by Fears Jr. with six seconds left and missed his only two free throws of the day. The Spartans had one last chance as Fears Jr. had a three point shot block by Tonje and Gilmore came up with rebound as Michigan State wanted a foul called and the officials said no foul and the game was over as Wisconsin as a five seed advances to the title game for the second straight and hope this time they take that Big Ten Tournament Trophy back to Madison with them for the fourth time.

Game 13: Maryland vs. Michigan

by: Nick Jenkinson, Excel H Sports

photos by: Tony Harper, Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

Social Media Influencer: Cainan Harper

Tre Donaldson’s Layup Wins it for the Wolverines over the Terrapins
    Tre Donaldson
    Tre Donaldson went coast to coast with a less than a second left as the #3 Seed Michigan Wolverines beat the #2 Seed Maryland Terrapins 81-80 in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals presented by TIAA Saturday Afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Maryland had once last chance throwing a pass the length of court and were unable to get a shot off.
                    Danny Wolf
    Michigan is 24-9 and will face #5 seed Wisconsin tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 PM for the Big Ten Tournament Championship. Michigan is in the championship for the sixth time. The Wolverines one the first Big Ten Tournament in 1998 and was later vacated due to NCAA rules violations. Michigan won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018. Michigan was runner up in. 2014 and 2019.
              Vlad Goldin
     Vlad Goldin led Michigan with 25 points and 10 rebounds and Danny Wolf scored 21 points along with 14 rebounds as the seven footers combined for 46 points and 24 rebounds. Tre Donaldson scored 12 points and Nimari Burnett added 10 points. Michigan went 31-66 from the field for 47 percent, 7-18 from three-point range for 40 percent and 12-13 for 92 percent.
           Nimari Burnett
     Michigan pulled down 47 rebounds, dished out 17 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks and committed 19 turnovers. Michigan led 38-34 at halftime and Maryland outscored Michigan 46-43 in the second half.
               Derik Queen
     Derik Queen led the Terrapins with 31 points and went 9-9 from the line. Selton Miguel scored 16 points, Julian Reese scored 13 points and Ja’Kobi Gillespie finished with 10 points. Maryland finishes the game 27-61 from the field for 44 percent, 7-21 from three-point range for 33 percent and 19-23 from the free throw line for 82 percent. Maryland pulled down 18 rebounds, 17 assists, 7 steals, 6 blocks and committed 6 turnovers.
  Ja’Kobi Gillespie
       Maryland has lost four games at the buzzer this season and they will learn from this and take their 25-8 record into the NCAA Tournament next week. Maryland was dominated on the boards and had a breakdown of defending the final play and Michigan is tough matchup for Maryland with the two seven footers and the bigger guards.
Derik Queen takes to the bucket
      Michigan beat Wisconsin 71-56 in the 2017 Big Ten Tournament Championship Game in Washington DC when the Wolverines were 8 Seed and Wisconsin was a 2 seed. This will be Wisconsin’s fourth game in four days and for Michigan their third in three days and both are headed to the NCAA Tournament regardless but one will leave Indianapolis with the Big Ten Tournament Title and the automatic big to the NCAA Tournament.

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