BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Seven minutes into Saturday’s game against No. 25 Indiana, the Wildcats had scored 17 points and had an 11-point lead.

Against Illinois on Feb. 23, in contrast, Northwestern (16-12, 7-9 Big Ten) didn’t score 17 until more than 22 minutes into the game, at which point it was down by 26.

But the result of both games was the same. NU surrendered its early lead to the Hoosiers (19-10, 11-5) in front of a sellout crowd of 17,456 and went home with a 79-67 defeat. It was the Cats’ 24th straight loss to Indiana.

After winning three consecutive games for the first time since 1976, NU has now lost three straight to finish the regular season.

Even though the losing streak continued, the Cats managed a much more impressive shooting performance Saturday than in their previous two games, against the Fighting Illini and Minnesota.

In those contests, NU shot less than 30 percent. But Saturday the Cats shot a solid 42.1 percent for the game – still not enough to beat an Indiana squad gunning for a share of the Big Ten title.

“Our last two games we didn’t play very well, shot very poorly,” NU coach Bill Carmody said. “It was just good to see our guys come out and play with confidence.

“I’m certainly not happy that we lost, but I’m just glad we played a little bit better than we have been playing.”

The Cats hope to take that momentum into the Big Ten tournament. NU, which has the

No. 7 seed, faces off against No. 10 seed Michigan in the first round Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

But Saturday, NU broke down after gaining the early 11-point lead, allowing Indiana to go on a 13-2 run and tie the score at 19.

Senior Dane Fife scored six of his eight points in that six-and-a-half minute stretch.

The 13-2 run ballooned into a 58-30 spurt that didn’t end until midway through the second period. NU’s Jitim Young and Aaron Jennings spent much of this time on the bench. Young was nursing an injury to his left ankle, while Jennings got into early foul trouble.

After the game, Carmody second-guessed his decision to limit Jennings’ minutes – the junior center keyed NU’s early success with seven points in the first 11 minutes of the game.

But the Hoosiers weren’t able to put away the Cats.

NU trailed by 13 points with two minutes reamining when Drew Long blocked a layup attempt by Fife. Jason Burke took the ball down court for a fast-break lay-in and was fouled by Tom Coverdale.

While Burke had the ball, Fife shoved NU’s Tavaras Hardy and was assessed a technical foul. Burke made his free throw to complete the three-point play, and Long made 1 of 2 from the line to cut the lead to nine. The Cats retained possession on the technical, but Winston Blake committed a turnover.

A missed layup by Young with 1:16 left would have brought the game within five.

“You have to make plays at the end, and they made plays,” Carmody said.

But more than missed shots, NU suffered from a problem that has been rare for the team this year – mistakes on the defensive end.

“We got mixed up sometimes, with some of the guards on the post, and we had to scramble,” Blake said. “That’s when they got the wide-open threes, and they took advantage of them.”

Coverdale benefited from those open looks. The guard had 18 of his 20 points after the break, going 3-for-6 from behind the arc in the period.

Both Coverdale and star forward Jared Jeffries were playing with minor injuries, but it didn’t impair either’s performance, as Jeffries added 15 points of his own. And senior Jarrad Odle had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds on Senior Day.

“They really have five guys who can score, so it’s tough to defend them,” Carmody said. “They really spread you out.”

But those five guys weren’t scoring early, leading to the Cats’ quick start. Even though NU had the early 11-point lead, at least one person in Assembly Hall wasn’t worried – Indiana coach Mike Davis.

“They had Big Ten championship shirts and caps and the trophies (waiting),” Davis said. “It was going to be very disappointing for everyone (if we lost). I knew it was a matter of time.”