Winston Blake walked into practice Wednesday looking for light in what has been a black tunnel of a senior season.

Instead, he found darkness.

The Welsh-Ryan Fieldhouse had been plunged into permanent midnight by a power outage, but Blake continued his search. Working beneath the faint glimmer of a an emergency ceiling light 50 feet above, Blake watched his shot’s soft rotation on its way to the hoop.

The ball drifted through the net with ease, but it’s done that before. Practice has been one thing for Blake; games another.

“I’ve seen Winston put up thousands of shots,” junior Jitim Young said. “And every time, I just know it’s going in.”

But Blake doesn’t know it. The senior’s confidence has crumbled, and now he’s trying to rebuild it from the bench.

Northwestern’s second all-time leader in 3-pointers made has connected on less than a quarter of his long-range shots this year — more than 14 percent below his career average. Blake has drawn iron more often, his rebounding numbers are off and his scoring average has plunged from 13.8 last season to 7.9 this season.

“I don’t know what it is,” Blake said. “I really wish I knew. If I knew, then I would correct it and make the shots go in.”

After a scoreless outing in the Wildcats’ 71-57 loss to Indiana on Jan. 11, the 6-foot-5 forward was benched for the first time since he was a freshman.

“Now’s the time when you have to come to terms with the fact that the dream of the NBA is probably over,” Blake said.

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