The Wildcats will look to avoid a fourth straight loss as they host the No. 12 Spartans.
Northwestern (15-6, 3-5 Big Ten) welcomes No. 12 Michigan State (17-4, 4-4) to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday night for what is NU's best chance remaining at securing a marquee win.
The Wildcats are currently mired in their toughest stretch of the season, as the meeting with the Spartans is their third of four consecutive games against ranked teams. Of those games, Thursday's is the only one in Evanston. This also hasn't been an especially successful couple of games for Chris Collins' squad which has lost three in a row.