Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Rutgers falls while Michigan moves up

The Wildcats had back-to-back games scoring 87 points against Ohio State and Maryland in double-overtime. Unfortunately, they lost both of them, allowing over 90 in each of them. Those defeats extended the losing streak to four games to that point.

But Northwestern was able to break the skid last week on the road at top-10 Michigan State, winning 64-62. Without leading scorer Pete Nance playing, forward Ryan Young had arguably his best game of the season, scoring a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds, with both Boo Buie and Chase Audige each in double figures.

It was the first of a three-game stretch against top-10 ranked teams in the country, with Purdue and Wisconsin following after. It looked as if Northwestern could pull off another upset against the Badgers but they fell short, falling by six points despite Audige and Buie combining for 41 points and eight assists in the backcourt.

The Wildcats’ schedule doesn’t get too much easier, taking on Michigan and Illinois next, both teams that have been improving as of late. This is a team that’s near the bottom of the standings and the hot seat for head coach Chris Collins continues to get warm. They’ll need a few surprise wins to help change that but they’ll need the defense to start improving to do that.