ANN ARBOR, Mich.-It’s been a tough Big Ten season for Winston Blake. After averaging 14.3 points per game and 3.3 made three-pointers per game in the nonconference season, Blake’s first three Big Ten games were a struggle. He dropped a total of only four three-pointers and averaged 7.7 points per game against Indiana, Iowa and Ohio State.

Wednesday at Michigan, Blake showed early signs of coming out of his slump, knocking down 4 of 8 from the field and two three-pointers in the first half. But he missed all three shots he took in the second. More importantly, he lacked confidence at times, taking the ball up too weakly on layups and not diving at loose balls.

Senior forward Tavaras Hardy, on the other hand, continued to display much-needed leadership qualities.

His hard-nosed play, drives to the basket and strong rebounds came at key moments of the game.

Before Northwestern’s game against Ohio State on Saturday, Carmody sat down with Hardy to discuss the senior’s season.

“He wasn’t playing emotionally,” Carmody said Wednesday.

The tete-a-tete clearly had an effect. Hardy was the bright spot for the Wildcats in Saturday’s loss, and Wednesday, he came through when he was needed most.

With 1:56 remaining, he converted a tough layup in the face of two Wolverines that put the Cats up by three. Blake must have noticed that his fellow upperclassman was doing all the work. After the Cats regained possession on a fast break, Collier Drayton took a layup that was blocked by Michigan’s Chris Young, but Blake grabbed the loose ball and scored on an acrobatic lay-in.

To this point, Hardy’s problem had been those infernal free throws – he shot just 4 of 11 from the charity stripe. So with 53.1 seconds left, the Wolverines fouled Hardy, probably by design. He still couldn’t drop both, but his one converted shot gave NU a fairly comfortable three-point lead.

After the final buzzer, Hardy walked off the Crisler Arena floor triumphantly, his hands in the air.

“Tavaras stepped up and made some plays,” Drayton said. “He’s our best post player, and he really came through for us.”

Without Hardy’s leadership, the Cats would be stuck in the trenches. But if they are serious about making a run at a postseason berth – or, at least earning some respect – they are going to need help from Blake, who is third all-time in made three-pointers at NU.

Carmody doesn’t have plans yet for a personal meeting with the junior forward. But Blake said after the game that assistant coaches Mitch Henderson and Paul Lee have plans to work with him on his technique.

In addition, both Blake and Carmody pointed to two of Blake’s five missed three-point attempts. If those two had gone down, he would have finished the game 4-for-7 from three-point range. Not to mention the fact that he would have gained some much-needed confidence.

“Those are shots I usually make,” he said.

But Blake stayed cool after the game.

“I know I’m struggling,” he said. “But people are going to play me hard because of my shot. I don’t want to force anything. I want to make sure we run the offense and defense.”

Good teams have talent, and good teams get some luck. In Blake, NU has a talent; now the Cats just need some of those close shots to go through.