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For one half, the Michigan Wolverines were all but trying on their dancing shoes. One half later, they were all but watching Wisconsin waltz into the NCAA tournament.

Michigan's DeShawn Sims-Manny Harris combo did all it could to build on the Wolverines' win over Purdue Thursday, but Wisconsin turned the Wolverines away with their trademark physical defense in the second half. The pressure went up, and the Wolverines' offense went down, managing just 21 points in the second half.

So, can Wisconsin sleepwalk into March Madness and are the Wolverines done, just days after they were all but called a shoo-in?

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A losing streak which was unheard of in Wisconsin during the past decade has now ended. Six losses ago, the Badgers were 3-0 in Big Ten play. Thursday night they moved to 4-6, with a quality win over a very strong Illinois team.

Marcus Landry and Jason Bohannon worked the inside-outside game, to the tune of 36 combined points, to lead the Badgers. Bohannon was money from outside, hitting six of his seven three-point attempts, while Landry worked the paint for most of his 16 points.

The Wisconsin Badgers remained undefeated in Big Ten play with their 62-50 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday. Even though the Badgers didn't play their best game, you can get away with that when you're playing Northwestern.

Though the win itself wasn't very impressive, the Badgers did manage to pull off a feat that I don't ever remember happening.

When junior forward Marcus Landry scored a career-high 21 points, it marked the first time in program history that the Badgers have had five different players lead the team in scoring with 20 or more points over five consecutive Big Ten Conference games.

UW coach Bo Ryan wondered aloud if that has been matched by any team anywhere in the history of the game. "And if it has,'' Ryan said, "I want to know the team, the year and I'm going to call the coach.

"Could anybody in their wildest dream ever think that can happen?''

It's the type of thing that makes me enjoy watching this Wisconsin team so much this season, and only deepens my appreciation of Bo Ryan as a head coach. There aren't many teams in the country that truly understand the concept of team basketball like the Badgers.

It's the biggest reason this team is so consistent year in and year out.