Northwestern's three-game winning streak came to an end at the talons of the Iowa Hawkeyes on Tuesday, but there’s no time for the Cats to sulk because they play Michigan on Thursday night for their fifth game in 10 days.

The Wildcats fell 85-78 to the Wolverines on Jan. 15, but the chance for redemption is here. Head coach Juwan Howard's squad is making the trip to rowdy Welsh-Ryan Arena, and tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT (ESPN2). A raucous crowd is expected, at least from the students: the 1,000 or so tickets allotted for undergrads ran out in four minutes, so both baselines should be rocking.

Tuesday night's loss in Iowa City was the first time that the Cats' NBA-like schedule over the past week seemed to catch up to them. They kept things close for most of the game, going into the break tied 39-39 and taking some leads in the first 10 minutes of the second half. However, that's when their steam started to run out -- and unfortunately for Northwestern, that was right when Iowa started to make everything it got its hands on. From the 10:09 mark in the second half, the Hawkeyes outscored the Wildcats 29-14, missing only five shots in the process.

Poor shooting contributed largely to Northwestern's demise. The Cats were 46.6% from the field and only 23.5% from three. Iowa, on the other hand, shot 55.8% from the floor and 47.6% from three-point land, which would defeat just about any opponent.

It would've been unreasonable to expect the Wildcats to go undefeated in the rest of conference play. In a league as chaotic and deep as the Big Ten, losses are going to happen, especially to a team that is surging like Iowa. It's all about how you respond, and head coach Chris Collins has this team in a good place.

The Wildcats are still one of Joe Lunardi’s last four byes in his NCAA Tournament bracket as a 10th seed. They currently sit at fourth in the conference with a 6-4 record, and their next three opponents are .500 or worse in Big Ten play. The first of those is Michigan (11-10, 5-5 Big Ten).

The Wolverines are a familiar opponent for the Cats after playing them only 18 days ago. Northwestern will hope that this time ends in a better result. To ensure that, the squad will need to find the sort of shooting form it had against Minnesota rather than what they had against Iowa (or against Michigan for that matter).

Michigan is currently in the midst of a two-game skid with losses to Purdue and Penn State. They gave the first-ranked Boilermakers a close call, losing by only five, but were subsequently blown out by 22 on the road by the Nittany Lions. They averaged 65.5 points per game in those two contests, and Northwestern's 26th-ranked defense (per KenPom.com) should be able hold them to a similar number.

The key will be to contain Jett Howard, who averages 14.9 points a game, and 7-foot-1 Hunter Dickinson, who is putting up 17.7 points and 8.5 boards per game.

Northwestern will likely double Dickinson in the post and make Michigan beat them with outside shooting. The Wolverines rank in the middle of the pack of the Big Ten in three-point accuracy at 34.2%.

After that, it will be up to the Boo Buie- and Chase Audige-led offense to come up with a suitable number worthy of the win. Buie has averaged 20.0 points over the last five games, and Audige isn't far behind with 15.6 in the same stretch. Opposing defenses are starting to take note of this duo, however, so some other Wildcats will need to step up.

Northwestern went to a small-ball lineup against Michigan in Ann Arbor and had success. Robbie Beran scored 16 points, and his playing center took Dickinson out of the game for long stretches, as he scored just 10 points.

Beran’s offensive performances have been streaky recently. In the last five games, he has scored 14+ points twice, but he also put up seven or less three times, including a zero-point performance against Nebraska. The same can be said of Ty Berry, who exploded for 26 points against Nebraska but was held to single digits in four of the last five games.

Some more under-the-radar options include Nick Martinelli, who has been a revelation as a spot player in Julian Roper II's absence, and Tydus Verhoeven. The two combined for 13 points off the bench against Iowa. Regardless of who steps up though, Northwestern will need more than just the two senior guards to ensure the win.

This is not the Michigan team of years past, and they are beatable. But the Cats will need to find a spark, particularly on the offensive end, after looking fatigued in crunch time just two nights ago.