EVANSTON-For the first time in the history of the series, Chicago State has beaten Northwestern.

The Cougars, just 3-9 on the season, came into Welsh-Ryan Arena and stunned the Wildcats, newly minted as the No. 25 team in the country by the AP, with a 75-73 win. Twelve days after knocking off No. 1 Purdue, Northwestern was done in by the No. 335 team in KenPom.

Head coach Chris Collins gave credit to their opponent and said it came down to connectivity and focus.

"I think the thing about our guys that we have to really understand is that the beauty of when we play really well is that we're connected," Collins said. "We feel like it's five guys playing as one.

"I felt tonight, it wasn't selfishness, but we weren't together. We were fragmented, we were frustrated and we never came together the way we needed to win the game."

After racking up 29 assists on 34 field goals against Detroit Mercy, the Wildcats tallied just 18 assists tonight, along with 14 turnovers. They got 23 from Boo Buie and 18 from Ryan Langborg, who played all 40 minutes and has hit 14 of his last 20 threes dating back to Purdue. But their efforts ring hollow in the face of such an unexpected loss.

Chicago State was led by 30 points on 13-for-21 shooting from guard Wesley Cardet, who was the best player on the floor for most of the night. The Cougars beat the Wildcats at their own game, playing small ball and spreading them out on the perimeter, requiring Collins to match them and go to Nick Martinelli at center for almost the entire second half.

"We played traditional early in the game and I just thought they really had us spread out," Collins said. "They had five guards and they were getting downhill on us. We thought let's take a look at switching everything... I think at times it helped, it was good but you sacrifice when you don't have a big on the floor."

Northwestern seemed to have the game in hand when they took a seven-point lead, 61-54, with 7:35 left in the game. But missed free throws and some key threes on the other end quickly flipped the script and the Wildcats found themselves down, 62-61, barely two minutes later, at the 5:32 mark.

Matt Nicholson, who had been benched the second half in favor of Martinelli's flexibility, returned with 4:35 to go but the damage was done and Chicago State brought home the upset.

Here are our takeaways from one of the worst losses in Northwestern history:

Wildcats took their eye off the ball: It seemed that Northwestern dodged a bullet after dispatching Detroit Mercy. But the post-Purdue crash came a game late.

Buie said the team simply wasn't locked in tonight.

"If we're locked in and ready to go like we usually are, I don't think they come back tonight," he said. "I think that we're able to dial in and put that game away. But when you're not connected and not ready to play, it's hard to win."

It was a shocking result and one that came from the Wildcats taking their foot off the gas on multiple occasions. They also led by 10, 28-18, halfway through the first half, but squandered that to only lead by 1 at the break.

This isn't a Chicago State team with much to its credit. The Cougars' record featured losses to Northern Colorado, UT-Martin, Delaware State and St. Thomas.

Northwestern came into the game 15-0 all-time against the Cougars and rightfully so. CSU has won 10 or more games just once within the last decade of play, albeit last year, when they finished 11-20.

This is the buy-game loss to buy all buy-game losses. It was a wide-open layup, and the Wildcats fell into a manhole.

In a two-point loss, the Wildcats looked lost at the line, finishing 13-for-20 with Buie, Langborg and Brooks Barnhizer missing five of those combined. It's an area of the game that the Wildcats desperately need to stabilize, but they put it on cruise control tonight and paid the price.

"Credit to them, they came ready to play," Ty Berry said. "They're Division I basketball players, they're good players. If you don't come ready to play, you can lose to anybody."

Worst loss in the Collins Era? Maybe so. Losses to Merrimack, in their first Division I game ever, and to Iowa by 36 in a game that felt like 50-plus, both rise to mind. But this one takes the cake.

Just days after earning a spot in the AP Top 25 with a 7-1 start that included a win over No. 1 Purdue, it all came crashing down. The Wildcats have been ranked six different times in Collins' tenure, but are yet to win a game while ranked at home. In fact, the Wildcats haven't done so since 1959.

This loss carries the sting of embarrassment, but it should not be taken as a death knell. The Wildcats are 7-2, with arguably the best win in college basketball. It is on them to come out and execute against DePaul this weekend, and take care of business the rest of the calendar year.

A close loss to Arizona State would also keep the Wildcats in the mix. But it's important not to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Yes, this game exposed glaring errors. The Wildcats' four- or five-guard lineups cannot go toe-to-toe defensively against similar schemes. They need to operate offset to their opponents.

There is trouble brewing at center where Nicholson was played off the floor for almost the entirety of the second half, with Martinelli forced to try and make an impact on the glass.

Rather than imposing their will on a hapless Chicago State squad, the Wildcats let them dictate terms and were the ones scrambling to find the right lineup against a 3-9 independent team.

But with all that said, the loss was atrocious but not season-ending. It's going to be a rockier ride than it seemed after students swarmed the court on Dec. 1, but this team can still dictate their own destiny in conference play.