There are several reasons Northwestern is currently mired in a six-game losing streak.

Their schedule – the toughest in the nation according to KenPom.com – has matched them up with a program-record seven straight ranked teams. Their defense has allowed five of the those six teams to score more than 80 points. A lack of discipline and unforced mistakes at key junctures are also culprits.

But the philosophical rule known as Occam’s razor tells us that the simplest explanation is most often the right one. And to put it simply, Northwestern just isn’t making shots.

A big part of the Wildcats’ celebrated 3-0 start to Big Ten play last month was the three-pointer. Northwestern shot 41% from beyond the arc in winning their first three conference games for the first time in 53 years and earning a No. 19 national ranking.

But since that time, Northwestern has gone cold from long distance. The Wildcats have hit better than 30% just once during this six-game skid.

“When we were playing winning basketball, we were getting the same shots, but we were making them,” said head coach Chris Collins said after the Wildcats’ 68-52 loss to Wisconsin on Wednesday night.

Northwestern hit just seven of 23 threes (30.4%) against the Badgers. Collins thought that “18 to 20” of them were wide open.

Chase Audige drained four of five three-pointers as he led all scorers with 16 points in Madison. But the rest of the roster was just 2-of-18, or 11.1%, from beyond the arc. Boo Buie went 1-for-7 and Robbie Beran 0-for-5.

“That’s something that’s been recurring for us,” Collins said. “It’s something that we’re going to need to do. When we were winning games we were making double-figure threes in those first three (Big Ten) games. I thought we got a lot of really good looks.”

Northwestern hit 10 or more three-pointers in four of its first five games this season, including the Big Ten opener against Michigan State, when the Wildcats hit 10-of-21 for a blistering 47.6%. Since then, however, they’ve made double-figure shots from long range just once in eight games – ironically, in a loss to Iowa.

The Wildcats shot 44% on triples against the Hawkeyes. In the five games since, they’ve shot 27.8% against Michigan, 30% against Illinois, 26.1% against Ohio State, 27.3% against Iowa and 30.4% against Wisconsin. All resulted in double-digit losses.

It doesn’t help that Northwestern’s best shooters are going through slumps, either.

Buie and Beran were counted on to be two of the Wildcats’ better shooters this year. Buie is shooting just 21.4% from beyond the arc during this losing streak. Beran is even worse at 19% and looked like a player who had lost all confidence against the Badgers, passing up wide-open shots and earning a tongue-lashing from Collins.

Miller Kopp is still one of the best three-point shooters in the Big Ten at 44.7%. The problem with him, according to Collins, is that other teams know that and haven’t been giving him any room on the perimeter. Kopp has made just two of his last 14 shots from long range over the last five games, including an 0-for-2 performance against Wisconsin.

But, as Collins pointed out, all that extra attention on Kopp at the arc is the reason that he was able to get four layups against the Badgers.

“I’m proud of him for not over-forcing things,” Collins said.

Collins said before the season that his team would live and die by the three, and right now they are dying. On both ends. Because while the Wildcats have been missing all those long-range shots, their opponents have been canning them with frightening efficiency.

Northwestern’s opponents have reached double-figure three-pointers in every one of those six straight losses. What’s more, in five of the six games, the other team shot it at better than a 40% clip from long distance. Right now, the Wildcats rank 12th in the Big Ten in three-point percentage defense.

None of that adds up to a winning formula. But Collins thought that his team’s perimeter defense improved against Wisconsin as the game went on. While the Badgers drilled five of their first seven three-pointers, they hit just five of 20 (25%) the rest of the way.

Collins is still optimistic about the future for this team. After two straight games against Top 10 teams, the toughest stretch of their schedule is now behind the Wildcats, who will now face five unranked teams in their next six games. After Saturday’s road game at Penn State, Northwestern will also get six of its last 10 games at home.

Collins’ job, as he sees it, is to keep his team’s confidence up despite the disappointing results, game after game. He thinks that a .500 record in Big Ten play could get NCAA Tournament consideration this year, so if his team can stack some wins they have a chance to play meaningful games late in the season.

“We got out of this stretch with three wins, and that gives us something to play for,” he said.