Ready or not, Big Ten play tips off tonight for Northwestern. The Wildcats take on Illinois at Allstate Arena in the Big Ten opener after a clumsy and disappointing 4-3 start to the season.

Northwestern has played three Power Six conference schools so far and lost to all of them. The Wildcats were run ragged defensively in a 92-88 loss to Creighton, embarrassed in all phases in an 85-49 beatdown by Texas Tech and are coming off of a 52-51 loss to Georgia Tech on a buzzer-beater on Tuesday night.

Now, they face the arch-rival Illini (6-1), followed by a Sunday trip to Purdue (6-2). If there was ever a time for the Wildcats to regain their mojo from a season ago, this is it.

Tuesday’s loss to the Yellow Jackets may have been heart-twisting, but there were still some positives to take away from it.

For one, the Wildcats played better defense than they had in recent games. Even though a failed switch gave Tadric Jackson a path to the basket for the game-winning layup, NU’s defense limited Georgia Tech to 37.2-percent shooting, the lowest percentage for an opponent this season, and just 52 points. They also took much better care of the basketball, turning it over just six times, tied for the lowest number this season.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that Northwestern’s offense was as efficient as a Hummer hauling a trailer of anvils. The Wildcats couldn’t shoot straight, hitting just 36.2 percent from the floor and 21.7 percent of their 3s. Leading scorer Scottie Lindsey went 0-for-8 and didn’t score. They also had just 10 assists on 21 baskets, an indicator that their offense was stagnant. Another strong sign: they went to the free-throw line just five times while Georgia Tech shot 20 from the charity stripe.

Northwestern was Cinderella last season in making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. This year, the Wildcats have often looked more like one of her stepsisters.

Several troubling issues haunt the Wildcats going into conference play. Turnovers are up from a season ago (10.6 to 12.1 per game), through the Wildcats have been much better in their last two games. Assists are also down slightly (15.0 to 13.4), illustrating that the Wildcats aren’t sharing the ball as well as they did last season.

But Northwestern’s calling card throughout head coach Chris Collins’ tenure had been defense. Even early in his career, when the Wildcats couldn’t compete talent-wise against many Big Ten teams, their defense enabled them to pull out a few wins.

This year has been a different story. The Wildcats rank last in the Big Ten in field-goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot 46.9 percent against them. Last year, that number was 40.3. Teams are scoring 70.6 points per game against NU, almost five points more than last season - and last year’s numbers, keep in mind, include Big Ten competition.

Teams have had success getting to the rim against Northwestern. Collins has talked about a lack of communication on the switches they typically use on the perimeter, and that was not expected from a veteran team. Jackson’s game-winning basket on Tuesday night was a case in point; Vic Law said that he failed to call out the switch quickly enough, and that gave Jackson a path to the rim.

Another surprise is that the Wildcats are in the Big Ten basement in steals, with 4.4 per game, 1.3 per game fewer than last season. A team that features long wings like Law and Lindsey would figure to have more. Steals lead to easy baskets on the other end and the Wildcats have given up 15 more steals than they’ve created.

There’s also the issue with the bench. Northwestern’s reserves have been outscored 144-66 on the season and have contributed more points than their opponents just once all season, against Sacred Heart.

Aaron Falzon, who is rounding into form after missing the first three games and is averaging 6.3 points per game, is the only reliable scorer coming off the bench for the Wildcats. That’s critical for a team that has gotten into its share of foul trouble early in the year. Backup guards Isiah Brown, Anthony Gaines and Jordan Ash are all shooting 20 percent or less from the field and big man Barret Benson is shooting just 33 percent and has had trouble with fouls and turnovers.

Is it time for Northwestern to panic? Of course not. But it is time to be concerned. The Wildcats will get plenty of chances to bolster their tournament resume in Big Ten play. The question is whether they are ready to take advantage of their first opportunity tonight.