Michigan's season-ending slide had only one break, a 72-63 win over Northwestern on Feb. 24.
Now U-M can pull out that game plan again, as the teams will meet in the second round of this week's Big Ten tournament.
With Michigan locked in as the No. 8 seed at midday Saturday, Northwestern took the No. 9 spot today following Penn State's win over Illinois and the Wildcats' win over Nebraska. The teams will meet in Thursday's first game, at noon at Indianapolis' Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The winner will advance to face No. 1 seed Indiana at noon Friday.