Fourth-seeded UCLA will open its first Big Ten tournament on Friday afternoon with a quarterfinal matchup against fifth-seeded and No. 18-ranked Wisconsin in Indianapolis.
Wisconsin (24-8) advanced with a 70-63 win over Northwestern in Thursday’s second round. Nolan Winter and John Tonje each scored 18 points, and the duo combined for all of the Badgers’ points in a 10-4 spurt before halftime that gave them a 37-30 lead at intermission.
Wisconsin built from that cushion to a second-half lead of as many as 18 points en route to the victory, bouncing back from a stunning loss to Penn State to end the regular season. The 86-75 setback last Saturday to a Nittany Lions team that failed to qualify for the Big Ten tournament had a huge impact on the postseason event’s makeup.
The Badgers’ loss contributed to a three-team tie between Wisconsin, Purdue and UCLA for fourth place in the Big Ten. By virtue of their 85-83 win over the Badgers in Los Angeles on Jan. 21, the Bruins held a tiebreaker that gave them the No. 4 seed in the tournament.
UCLA (22-9) received a double bye into the quarterfinals as a result of being in the top four.
When the teams met in January, UCLA’s 7-foot-3 center, Aday Mara, had a breakout performance off the bench with a career-high 22 points. Mara has been a central part of the Bruins’ late-season push, with six of his eight double-figure-point games coming from the Wisconsin game or later.
Mara also delivered both of his double-doubles this season since UCLA beat Wisconsin, including an 11-point, 10-rebound performance at Northwestern on March 3.
The Bruins won 11 of 14 games to close the regular season, and coach Mick Cronin has emphasized being prepared for the tournament.
“We’re going to score if we don’t turn it over. We’ve improved at going to rebound (the ball). That goes back to effort,” Cronin said on the Bruin Insider Show. “If you don’t prepare to try to win the tournament and be a team that can stop one of the best teams in the country and execute against a tough, hard-nosed defensive team, then you can’t believe you’re going to win.”
UCLA leans heavily on its defense, too, averaging a per-game yield of 65.1 points per game. The Bruins have consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally in points allowed through the season.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, ranks in the nation’s top 40 for scoring offense at an average of 80.4 points per game. Fueling the Badgers’ 83 points in the previous matchup with UCLA were Tonje, who scored 24, and John Blackwell with 23.
The duo combined for 9-of-14 shooting from 3-point range vs. the Bruins. For the season, Wisconsin averages just below 10 made 3-pointers per game.
“It’s great having talented guys around you. [Opponents] can’t key in on one guy,” Tonje said of Wisconsin’s offensive diversity. “We’re a team that’s willing to share it and really get anyone involved. It could be anyone’s night.”
Tonje and Blackwell lead the Badgers in scoring with averages of 18.9 and 15.4 points per game, respectively.
For UCLA, Tyler Bilodeau’s 14 ppg, Eric Dailey’s 12 and Sebastian Mack’s 9.8 set the tone offensively.
