Michigan State basketball: 3 takeaways from ugly loss at Northwestern

1. The Spartans are facing a "must-win" at Illinois

I hate to call any game in the middle of January in a 20-game Big Ten schedule a "must-win" but this is about as close to it as it comes. The Spartans are sitting at 1-3 in conference play and 9-6 overall but a loss to the Illini would require an almost "winning out" effort to even have a fighter's chance to win the Big Ten.

Not even just a Big Ten title push, but making the NCAA Tournament will be tough if Michigan State doesn't start piling up Quad 1 wins. The Spartans have a couple, but beating a really good Illinois team without their best player on the road will be crucial moving forward. A win on Thursday would change the trajectory of the season for good and get everyone on the same page again.

Losing to Northwestern in the disappointing fashion that the Spartans did really got the doubters out in full force again, and a win over Illinois on Thursday would go a long way.

You simply cannot start conference play 1-4 and the season 9-7 and expect to waltz into the NCAA Tournament, especially since the Big Ten is so down this year.

Michigan State needs to bounce back in a big way on Thursday night in Champaign.