At first glance, the beginning of January looked to be a chance for Northwestern to make up ground in the Big Ten.

After opening the conference schedule with December games against Michigan State, the best team in the conference, and on the road against Purdue in one of the toughest venues in the league, the Wildcats faced Minnesota and Indiana on the road, and then Nebraska and Iowa at home to open 2020. None of the teams were ranked.

But the schedule makers didn’t do the Wildcats any favors, squeezing the four games into a 10-day period. Add injuries to starters Anthony Gaines and Boo Buie and a manageable stretch turned into a gauntlet, as Northwestern managed to win just one of the four games, against Nebraska, to fall further into the Big Ten basement at 1-5.

The loss of Buie, a true freshman who had just emerged as the team's most dangerous scorer, and Gaines, a junior captain, has dealt a crucial blow to Northwestern's hopes for turning the season around. Gaines is out for the rest of the season after having shoulder surgery, but Buie should return from the stress fracture in his foot in the next week or two.

One encouraging development for the Wildcats over the last four games, however, has been the emergence of true freshman Robbie Beran. The 6-foot-9 forward moved into the starting lineup over the last four games and saw his minutes, points and rebounds more than double.

Beran’s average minutes per game has soared from 14 to 30 in January. After averaging 3.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game through the first 12 games of the season -- against mostly lesser competition -- Beran has averaged 9.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game over the last four games.

Northwestern tracks each player's season-highs on its website in 12 categories, everything from points and minutes to blocks and steals. Ten of Beran's 12 season highs came in the last four games.

He got his season-high in points (10) against Nebraska, when he recorded his first double-double, and minutes (34) against Minnesota. A classic stretch-4 with a natural shooting stroke, Beran has also over the last two games drilled three of his six 3-pointers on the year.

Head coach Chris Collins said after the Iowa game that Northwestern needs Beran's scoring moving forward. The Wildcats, who rank last in the Big Ten in offense with 65.9 points per game, now face four straight ranked teams over the next two weeks.

"The emergence of Robbie has been very good for our team," said Collins after Beran put up 9 points and 5 rebounds in 28 minutes against the Hawkeyes. "That's what happens with young players when they get the opportunity to play a lot. Because of the injuries and his emergence, he's been playing almost 30 minutes a game, and that's how you get better."

That's one benefit -- maybe the only one -- of having two starters out of the lineup: young guys like Beran and fellow freshman Jared Jones have gotten substantially more minutes, accelerating their development.

Collins has noticed a boost in Beran's confidence, as well.

In a win over Nebraska last Saturday, Beran battled in the paint for 10 rebounds, swatted away a shot at the rim and had two impressive drives to the hoop, one for a reverse, the other for a left-handed layup. He also hit two 3-pointers.

Against Iowa, Beran hit just 4-of-11 shots, including his only 3-point attempt, but Collins even noticed strides in some of his misses.

"I think he's getting more confident," said Collins. "He made some really really good moves that he didn't (score on). He made a great move, missed a dunk. Had a couple around the basket that he's going to finish as he continues to get this experience and gets a little stronger and figures things out."

When Buie does return to the lineup, Northwestern will have one more proven scorer in Beran that they can go to when they need some offense.

"It's been exciting to watch [Beran's] development over these last three or four games, and hopefully, when we can get Boo back, [we'll] have another young guy out there.

"[Buie's] got some ability. We certainly miss his scoring. I think his last two games he had 51 points, so you take that out of the lineup it's going to hurt.”

Yes, Buie's absence has hurt the Wildcats. But Collins hopes that it's a short-term pain that will pay off with a long-term gain.