With the most recent loss to No. 7 Michigan, the current losing streak now has moved to three for the No. 10 MSU men’s basketball team (22-7 overall, 11-5 Big Ten) with just two games to play.

Accumulating losses to No. 2 Indiana and No. 14 Ohio State along with the Wolverines, the Spartans have become the latest to succumb to the rigors of one of the nation’s toughest conferences.

The consecutive losses put the team as a relative longshot to repeat as Big Ten champions with the Hoosiers sitting at 13-3 in conference play and four teams tied for second at 11-5.

But even with the team’s conference championship hopes all-but-dashed, Nix said the Spartans have something to play for and are anxious to get back on track Thursday against No. 22 Wisconsin (9 p.m., ESPN).

“It’s a pretty tough conference; you can be beat anytime by any team,” Nix said. “We gotta play for a good seed in the Big Ten Tournament and play for our win record and just play for the program now.”

As the Spartans attempt to move on from the most difficult stretch of their season, the team first has to make progress from a difficult end to Sunday’s loss to Michigan.

With a chance to beat the Wolverines in the waning moments of the game, Michigan guard Trey Burke stripped the ball from junior guard Keith Appling and roared down the floor for a flushing dunk. Several ticks of the clock later, Burke broke up a pass directed at Appling by freshman guard Gary Harris to end the game and send the Spartans home on a sour note.

Bearing the weight of the criticism for his play in the losing effort, Appling said he believes the loss to Michigan was worse than the team’s previous loss to Indiana, citing its debilitating effect on the team’s chance to win a Big Ten championship.

However, Appling said the players understand what they signed up for when coming to MSU and many of the teams goals are in tact down the stretch.

“We realize this is a tough stretch; we’ve played some pretty good teams,” Appling said. “But at the same time, we know what our goals are for the season and we still have the opportunity to accomplish a few of them.”

As difficult as it might be to see, head coach Tom Izzo still sees a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Spartans return to Breslin Center for a two-game regular season finale starting with the Badgers (20-9, 11-5) and concluding Sunday with Northwestern (13-16, 4-12). The team previously defeated Wisconsin with a gutsy effort on Jan. 22 in Madison, Wisc.

The final two games will determine MSU’s seeding for the Big Ten Tournament (March 14-17) at Chicago’s United Center with a top-four seeding allowing the Spartans to start play on March 15.

Despite the results of the previous three games, Izzo said his team has shown the ability to be among the best in the country and certainly will have an opportunity to test that during a postseason run.

“(It) used to be getting in is a good run, winning a game was a good run, first weekend was a good run, an elite eight was a good run, it’s moved up,” Izzo said. “This team is capable of playing with just about anybody in the country that I have seen so far. Other years I did not feel that way. Even years that we went to a Final Four I didn’t feel that way.”

Harris honored

After an impressive first season, Harris has been named one of eight finalists for the Integris Wayman Tisdale Award, awarded to the top freshman in the nation each season by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Harris joins UNLV’s Anthony Bennett, Arizona State’s Jahii Carson, Duke’s Rasheed Sulaimon, Kansas’ Ben McLemore, Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel, Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart and UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad on the list of the nation’s best newcomers.

Harris is the only member of the Big Ten on the list, averaging 13.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game for the Spartans.