EVANSTON, Ill. — Bounce back. Move on.

Both phrases are familiar refrains for the Michigan and Northwestern basketball teams.

Michigan has lost four straight games for the first time since 2007-08 and was blown out by Indiana, 80-61, on Saturday. Northwestern had a chance for a marquee victory slip away in an overtime loss to Michigan State, even though they led in the final minute of regulation.

So when Michigan (11-7 overall, 1-4 Big Ten) and Northwestern (11-5, 2-4) play on Tuesday (9 p.m., Big Ten Network), one team will bounce back.

“We lost, got crushed by Illinois two weeks ago, and the thing about this now is that you don’t have time to feel so great forever or feel so bad forever,” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. “It used to be Wednesday-Saturday and Sunday is an off-day.

“Now, we have four games in nine days, so you don’t have time to worry about it, take what you can for losses. This Michigan State game, OK, now we have Michigan, let’s go. You can’t dwell on things.”

John Beilein

Michigan doesn’t want to dwell on a losing streak that is longer than any player on the roster has dealt with in college. And considering Michigan is about to hit the brunt of its conference schedule, there is the potential for this season to become fragile quickly.

“That’s always something that you look after, your young players in particular,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “It’s just part of the whole process, you have to keep teaching that, keep reinforcing that there is another game to play and that you will play better as long as you keep believing. Our practice habits will enhance the process of our improvement.

“You don’t get a long time to dwell on it … the New England Patriots are probably pretty fragile today if they had to play tomorrow. But you just have to keep pressing on, and it will work itself out.”

Beilein said his players looked fine Sunday when they watched film and practiced.

“They bounced back,” Beilein said. “They have to bounce back, they have no other choice right now.

“We just have to keep trying to get better.”

Be like Shurna

Northwestern junior forward John Shurna is one of the more unlikely stars in the Big Ten. Lightly recruited out of high school because he barely played AAU, the Glen Ellyn, Ill., native ended up at Northwestern.

A year ago, he blossomed when Kevin Coble went down with a season-ending injury and became the Wildcats’ go-to player.

This year, he’s averaging 21.3 points a game and shooting 58.3 percent from the 3-point line.

His improvement is something Beilein is hoping freshman forward Evan Smotrycz and redshirt freshman forward Blake McLimans are paying attention to.

McLimans might be the best example as he was also lightly recruited and didn’t play AAU at all.

“I’m looking at John, and he’s become such an important player for Northwestern and a very good player in our league,” Beilein said. “I was looking at his first game against us, and he had two points in six minutes and the next time he had 15 points. He continues to improve his game in a lot of different areas. He’s more than just a shooter, he gets to the foul line as well. At 6-8, 6-9, he understands matchups when he goes back inside.

“Our hope is that guys like Blake McLimans, guys like Evan Smotrycz, can play in a similar fashion and improve as much as he has over his time at Northwestern.”

This and that

Sophomore guard Darius Morris, currently at 131 assists, is tied with Travis Conlan for 23rd in single-season assists numbers at Michigan. He is 10 assists away from 16th all time (Eric Turner) and 103 assists away from Gary Grant’s single-season record of 234 in 1987-88. … Morris in on pace to have the best single-season assist-per-game numbers in Michigan history at 7.3 a game. Grant is the record-holder at 6.9 a game in 1987-88. … Smotrycz, a 40 percent 3-point shooter, is tied with Dugan Fife for the 17th-best single-season 3-point percentage in school history.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein