John Blackwell scored 20 of his career-high 30 points in the second half and graduate transfer John Tonje added 19 as No. 19 Wisconsin rallied to hold off stubborn UT Rio Grande Valley 87-84 on Monday night in Madison, Wis.
Wisconsin (5-0), which trailed 52-48 at the half, went without a field goal over the game’s final 4:23 and scored its last 11 points from the free throw line. The Badgers, who entered No. 1 in the nation in free throw percentage (90 percent), finished 27-of-32 from the line.
Tonje, who played at Missouri last season, hit four consecutive free throws to put the Badgers in front 80-75 with 3:34 left. He hit two more free throws to make it 85-81 with 1:14 remaining and finished 10-of-10 at the stripe…