John Tonje scores 27 as No. 18 Wisconsin hands Nebraska 6th straight loss
Wisconsin guard John Tonje (9) dunks the ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Nebraska, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — John Tonje scored 27 points and No. 18 Wisconsin never trailed while routing Nebraska 83-55 on Sunday to hand the Cornhuskers their sixth consecutive loss.
Wisconsin (16-4, 6-3 Big Ten) bounced back from an 85-83 loss at UCLA that snapped a seven-game winning streak.
Wisconsin grabbed a 19-2 lead less than five minutes into the game by shooting 7 of 8 from the floor and 5 of 6 on 3-pointers. Nebraska responded with a 19-5 spurt that included Wisconsin going scoreless for over six minutes, but the Badgers answered with a 16-2 run and never looked back.
John Blackwell scored 14 points and Kamari McGee added 11 for Wisconsin.
Brice Williams had 11 points to lead Nebraska (12-8, 2-7). Wisconsin transfer Connor Essegian scored eight points while facing his former team for the first time.
NO. 17 ILLINOIS 83, NORTHWESTERN 74
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Kylan Boswell scored 17 points and had six rebounds to lead No. 17 Illinois over Northwestern.
Morez Johnson Jr. had 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots, Ben Humrichous had 14 points, Kasparas Jakucionis had 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and Jake Davis added 11 points from the bench for Illinois (14-6, 6-4 Big Ten).
Nick Martinelli and Jalen Leach each scored 17 points Northwestern (12-8, 3-6), which trailed 43-21 at halftime. Ty Berry had 10 points.
Illinois, the No. 2 rebounding team in the country, dominated the boards 50-27 without leading rebounder Tomislav Ivisic, who missed his second straight games because of an illness. The Illini had 21 offensive rebounds.
NO. 24 MEMPHIS 100, UAB 77
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — PJ Haggerty scored 23 points, Dain Dainja had a season-high 21 points and eight rebounds and No. 24 Memphis shot 62% in a victory over UAB.
Dainja was 10 of 12 from the field before fouling out as Memphis (16-4, 6-1 American Athletic Conference) won its third straight game and seventh in its last eight.
Efrem Johnson led the Blazers (12-8, 5-2) with 21 points. Bradley Ezewiro finished with 19, while Yaxel Lendeborg had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The game pitted two of the three teams in the American standings and the top two picks in preseason polls, with UAB voted first to win the conference and Memphis second.
Memphis used inside-out scoring to take a 52-39 halftime lead with Dainja scoring 16 points and Haggerty adding 13.
Johnson kept the Blazers in the game with 17 points, including 5 of 7 from outside the arc.