Wisconsin Badgers transfer proved his worth in season-opening win over Holy Cross

This is how you make a statement with your new team. On Monday night, the Wisconsin Badgers opened their men's basketball season against Holy Cross and things were far too close for comfort. Down at halftime? Come on, Greg Gard!

Thankfully, the Badgers dominated play in the second half and one player in particular took over. That'd be Missouri transfer John Tonje, who looked fantastic in his regular season debut for the Badgers and Gard. If you were impressed with the veteran wing, you weren't the only one.

Tonje ended up scoring a team-high 23 points, while adding five rebounds and one assist. When Wisconsin needed someone to come up big, he delivered, playing a massive role in the Badgers posting an 85-61 victory. As it turns out, he also added his name to the record books too:

John Tonje looked electric for the Wisconsin Badgers in his debut

"John Tonje, obviously attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line got us going. In the second half, I thought we were better defensively. Hopefully, as you go through a season, you grow from half to half."

Greg Gard after the Badgers win

On the night, Tonje was perfect from the free-throw line at 8-8, while also shooting 50 percent from downtown - he was 3-of-6 on his 3-point attempts. This was exactly the kind of performance Wisconsin fans were hoping to see out of him, as he's going to be a leader for this team, which made the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24, this campaign.

As a whole, Gard wasn't too pleased with the slow start from his players, but the second half was unreal. At one point, Wisconsin was down by 16 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, but the team snapped out of its funk and sent fans home in Madison with a smile on their face. Tonje was a big reason for that, as he has people excited about what he and his teammates can get done this season.