WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Move aside, Johnny Davis. Make room for John Tonje.

Not crumbling in one of the country’s most hostile venues, even after seeing one of its top reserves ejected, No.16 Wisconsin got a monumental lift from its star graduate transfer in a 94-84 victory over No.7 Purdue at Mackey Arena Saturday afternoon.

Scoring a team-high 32 points on 15 shots, Tonje scored 22 in the second half, including 11 points in the first 4:49 of the second half that harkened back to Davis’s 37 points three years ago on the same floor.

That win helped propel Wisconsin to a share of the Big Ten title two months later. This one will certainly keep the Badgers (20-5, 10-4 Big Ten) in the conversation, trailing Michigan by 1.5 games with six remaining in the regular season.

Max Klesmit added 17, Nolan Winter had 12, while John Blackwell and Jack Janicki had 11, as the Badgers shot 61.5 percent overall and 72.0 percent in the second half. It represented UW’s first victory over a Big Ten team with a current winning record and just the fifth win over Purdue (19-7, 11-4) at Mackey Arena since 1972.

Trey Kaukman-Renn had a career-high 30 points for the Boilermakers, but the Badgers held point guard Braden Smith (six points, 2-for-10) in check.

A back-and-forth first half had a chance to spiral for Wisconsin after reserve point guard Kamari McGee was assessed a flagrant-2 foul and ejected with 6:20 remaining in the first half for “excessive contact” against Kaufman-Renn while fighting through a screen.

Instead of folding, the Badgers went on a 10-2 run over the final 3:23. Reliant on the three-pointer earlier in the half, eight of UW’s 12 points in the paint came in the final 5:10 of the half.

Tonje’s scoring sprint gave the Badgers a 58-50 lead with 13:34 remaining and stayed there thanks to Janicki’s corner threes, Blackwell’s drives to the rim and the Badgers going 16-for-20 from the line in the second half.

What it means: Less than 30 minutes before the University of Wisconsin tipped off a pivotal Big Ten road game, the NCAA Selection Committee viewed the Badgers’ profile as the 11th-best resume in the country, worthy of a three-seed if the NCAA Tournament started tomorrow. The committee might view the Badgers a little differently now.

Star of the game: Depending on how the final month and a half goes, Tonje might be under consideration for having his jersey retired.

Stat of the game: Wisconsin shot 72.0 percent (18-for-25) from the field in the second half, including 6-for-12 from three. The Badgers averaged 1.541 points per possession. It was the most points UW scored in a road game at Purdue and the most against the Boilermakers since 1968.

Reason to be Concerned: When the Big Ten added four Pac-12 teams, did the league absorb some of that league’s officials? Poor and inconsistent calls made the game hard to watch in spurts, and McGee’s flagrant-2 call was borderline bad.

Don’t overlook: Janicki loves the big stage. After scoring nine points against No.9 Arizona, Janicki goes 3-for-4 from three against No.7 Purdue to set a new career-high. He scored nine of his points after McGee was shown the gate.

What’s next: Wisconsin will have a quick turnaround to prepare for its Tuesday home game against Illinois, one of the program’s biggest recent nemesis. The Illini extended their winning streak over Wisconsin to nine games after an 86-80 victory at the State Farm Center on December 10. Freshman Kasparas Jakucionis scored 24 points, and Tre White had a season-high 23 for the Illini (7-2, 1-1), which won despite being held to 42.2 percent shooting and 10-for-33 from three.

Going through a stretch when it lost four of six, the Illini have won two straight and enter tonight’s home game against No.11 Michigan State in seventh place in the conference.

The tip from the Kohl Center is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on FS1.

_________________________________________________

*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den

*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel

*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)

*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @TheBadgerNation, @_Perko_, @seamus_rohrer, @DonnieSlusher_

*Like us on Facebook