Alando Tucker made the play of the game Saturday as his Wisconsin Badgers knocked off Illinois 71–64 in the hostile environment of Assembly Hall. Yet at no point did Tucker shoot the ball, or even threaten to shoot it.

With just over a minute left and Wisconsin up by one, fellow Wisconsin senior Kammron Taylor launched a three-pointer. The shot was partially blocked by Illinois’s Brian Randle, and the ball popped straight up into the air. Standing on the baseline some 18 feet away, Taylor spotted the loose ball and took a running leap after it. He snagged it over half the Illini team, then fell to the floor. Knowing the shot clock was winding down, he shoved the ball back to Taylor, who buried a jumper to put Wisconsin up 65–62. Illinois never got closer than two points, and the Badgers beat the Illini for the first time in three seasons.

The play added another notch to a breakthrough season for Tucker, a leading candidate for the Wooden Award as college basketball’s player of the year. It also typified a magical season for Wisconsin. Ranked no. 2 in the nation with a sparkling 19–1 record and riding a 14-game winning streak, the Badgers have positioned themselves as a legitimate Final Four candidate.

Few players embody a team’s identity more than Tucker does for Wisconsin. A versatile scorer, Tucker is dangerous off the dribble or spotting up. His athleticism and long arms make him an effective defender against perimeter players, while his toughness and smarts allow him to hold bigger players in check. He’s improved his passing and decision making over his four years at Wisconsin, too, becoming an all-around threat.

The 6-foot-6-inch swingman is averaging more than 19 points, five rebounds, and two assists a game this season. He’s hiked up his steals per game, blocks per game, and assist-to-turnover ratio to careerhigh levels. Despite his aggressive play, the cagey Tucker commits less than one foul a game, keeping him on the court during crucial moments of big games. (By contrast, fellow Big 10 star Greg Oden struggled with foul trouble in losses to Florida and, tellingly, to Wisconsin.) Tucker has often shone brightest when it’s mattered most, too. He potted 28 points on 13 for 22 shooting in a big win over instate rival Marquette and poured in 32 (with 10 rebounds) in knocking off then no. 2 Pittsburgh.

The Badgers as a whole have adopted that same win-any-way-you-can approach. Taylor led the offense in the showcase victory over Ohio State, going for 25 points. Saturday against Illinois, Greg Stiemsma, a little-used big man averaging 1.6 points a game heading into the battle in Champaign, dropped a season-high 12 on the Illini. The 6-foot-11-inch junior hit his first five shots, brashly blowing on his fingers after one of his mid-range jumpers connected.

That balanced attack is just the way coach Bo Ryan likes it. The Badgers’ coach won four Division III national championships at Wisconsin-Platteville, then led Wisconsin-Milwaukee to its first stretch of back-to-back winning seasons in nearly a decade — all while deploying a nuanced attack known as the swing offense. It took time for the swing to take hold in Madison, after Ryan became the Badgers’ coach in 2001. But this season the offense has clicked, with Ryan finding the elusive combination of guards who make good decisions, swingmen who can post up, and big men who can pull opposing shot blockers away from the rim and stick jumpers, even beyond the arc.

The Badgers’ depth, versatility, and experience have enabled them to start the Big 10 season 5–0. But bigger questions remain if they hope to have a shot at the national championship.

The Big 10 may be the weakest of all the BCS conferences this season (the Big East is similarly depressed this year). Ohio State is loaded with NBA-caliber talent, and Oden should only get better as his injured right wrist heals. Indiana has been a pleasant surprise under first-year coach Kelvin Sampson, as D.J. White has returned to form after sitting out last year due to injury. But beyond those two teams, few conference rivals figure to give Wisconsin much of a fight. Illinois has lost a number of recent stars — including phenom guards Deron Williams, Luther Head, and Dee Brown — to the NBA. Ditto Michigan State, which said goodbye to Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown, and others. Michigan is 4–1 in Big 10 play, but has yet to prove itself against a top-tier opponent all season. Purdue has a shallow talent pool behind bruising forward Carl Landry; Iowa is barely over .500 for the season; Minnesota, Penn State, and Northwestern are, as usual, bringing up the rear.

The bigger question may be how Wisconsin handles the crème de le crème of Division I. Pitt, Marquette, and Ohio State were good tests, to be sure. But could the Badgers prevail over a deep, track star-laden North Carolina team? Could they handle a Florida squad whose All Americacaliber bigs Joakim Noah and Al Horford figure to pound Wisconsin’s less-skilled front line? Would the electric talent of UCLA guards Arron Afflalo and Darren Collison prove too much for Wisconsin’s backcourt of Taylor and Michael Flowers to handle? If Tucker gets into a postseason duel with say, Texas’s Kevin Durant, would both his player of the year hopes and Wisconsin’s title shot evaporate?

For a team that makes its living off one of America’s most efficient offenses, the answers could swing either way.

Mr. Keri (jkeri@nysun.com) is a writer for ESPN.com’s Page 2 and a contributor to YESNetwork.com.