On Dec. 26, 2020, Northwestern knocked off No. 23 Ohio State, 71-70. It was the Wildcats' fourth straight win and they sat atop the Big Ten standings at 3-0.

They haven't won since, losing seven straight games. The most recent one came on Saturday night, an 81-78 loss to Penn State.

While it's been almost a month since the last Wildcat win, this losing streak isn't even that long by head coach Chris Collins' standards; it's tied for the fourth-longest slide of his tenure.

If there is an air of familiarity around this losing streak, there should be. It happens on a regular basis. In all but one of Collins' eight seasons in Evanston the team has endured a losing streak of at least five games.

In fact, the only year where a losing streak didn't reach five was in 2016-17, the year Northwestern made the NCAA Tournament. Their longest losing streak that year was just two, which happened on three different occasions.

But this is the sixth time in eight seasons the Wildcats' slide has reached at least seven games, and the fourth season in a row.

In terms of margin of defeat, this is one of Northwestern's most brutal streaks. Saturday's three-point loss to Penn State was the first loss of the seven by single digits. The Wildcats' 15.9-point average margin is the second-largest of any of Collins' streaks, and they've lost five of the seven games by 15 or more.

If there is any solace here, it's that Northwestern's meatgrinder of a Big Ten slate has played a major role. The Wildcats have the most difficult schedule in the country, according to KenPom.com.

The Cats have played six ranked opponents during their current slide, with Penn State being the only unranked team to beat them. That is the most ranked opponents Northwestern has played in any of their extended losing streaks over the last eight seasons.

Three of Northwestern's losing streaks under Collins have reached double digits. The longest is last season's 12-game string -- the program's longest since 2000. In that one, the Wildcats went 44 days, nearly a month and a half, without tasting victory.

This 2020-21 streak already has the second-most double-digit losses, with six. Last year's 12-game streak featured a total of seven losses by 10 or more points.

The Wildcats' 3-0 start to Big Ten play and No. 19 national ranking seems like a distant memory, buried by a losing streak that has dropped them to 6-8 overall and 3-7 in conference. However, they will have maybe their best chance to end the losing streak in their next game, at home, against Rutgers, on Sunday.

Northwestern will have had more than a week off before tipoff, while the Scarlet Knights, just a game ahead of the Wildcats in the Big Ten standings at 4-6, plays on Thursday night against Michigan State.

If there's one thing that this team needs, it's another water-doused post-game locker room celebration. It's been a long time coming.