MINNEAPOLIS – Barry Alvarez is in the College Football Hall of Fame because he understood how to build a program replete with players who were both talented and tough.

You wouldn’t want Alvarez, who guided Wisconsin to three Rose Bowl titles before retiring, to take over your basketball team, however.

His forte wasn’t designing precise out-of-bounds plays.

Yet UW’s former football coach and athletic director, who put Greg Gard in charge of the men’s basketball program in the spring of 2016, must appreciate Gard’s current team.

Greg Gard's players didn't panic after winning just two of eight games in February

After going 2-6 in February and falling out of the national rankings and sliding down the Big Ten standings, the Badgers could have flinched when the calendar flipped to March.

Instead, the Badgers got healthy and rediscovered the level of play that led them to start the season 8-1 in the league and 16-4 overall.

After going 3-1 in the Big Ten tournament, a run that ended in the title game with a six-point loss to second-seeded Illinois, the Badgers enter the NCAA Tournament seeded No. 5 in the South Regional. They open at 8:40 p.m. Friday (Central) against No. 12 James Madison at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

“You’re going to have ups and downs in the season,” guard Max Klesmit said, “and it’s going to be: 'What do you do to make up for that? How are you going to handle yourself when things go bad? And how are you going to handle yourself when things go well?'"

The return of John Blackewll (hip) and Kamari McGee (toe) re-established the rotation Gard used during the 16-4 start.

Blackwell is a versatile offensive threat who can score from three-point range or get to the basket. McGee gives Gard the option of resting starting point guard Chucky Hepburn.

Both are tenacious defenders.

Gard noted that most teams have to muster the wherewithal to battle through a rough patch at some point in the season.

“Maybe it's a three-game streak,” he said. “Maybe it’s a five-game streak. Maybe they had it in December. Maybe they had it in January. You’re going to go through it. There's so much parity in college basketball.

“When you play tough non-conference schedules like we do…you put your neck out there, and you’re going to risk this.

“Then we get in our league, and we know each other so well, and there's great coaches and great players in our league, that you're going to take some bumps.

“You have to not put your head down, as these guys said, not feel sorry for yourself. Don’t let the valleys get too low and don’t let the peaks get too high and keep pushing forward knowing there will be light at the end of the tunnel if you do hit a rough patch.”

That rough patch included losses to Michigan, Rutgers, Iowa and Indiana, a quartet of teams that failed to secure a berth in the NCAA field and had a combined record of 60-69 after the conclusion of the Big Ten tournament.

“We’ve made it through the ups and downs of the season,” forward Tyler Wahl said, “and we’re playing really good right now.”

Were UW's players frustrated in February? Yes. But they never stopped focusing on what areas required improvement.

There were some signs of frustration in February, particularly after losses the at Michigan and at Indiana. The Wolverines went on to finish in last place in the league at 3-17. The Hoosiers had some talented players but were in the midst of a four-game losing streak when they defeated UW.

Overall, however, the players and coaches appeared to remain poised and stuck to the daily plan.

“All 18 dudes in the locker room are even-keeled,” Klesmit said. “Nobody gets too high or too low. Everyone knows we’ve got trust in one another. And I think that just shows on the floor.”

That trust, Klesmit noted, was evident on UW’s final possession in its victory over Purdue in the Big Ten tournament semifinals.

Hepburn drove toward the lane but passed the ball to Klesmit, who was able to get into the lane for the game-winner.

“The best player we've got on our team,” Klesmit said, “his ability to give the ball up and just trust someone else in the late game, speaks volumes.

“It screams team, not just me.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin basketball team didn't flinch during a 2-6 run in February