Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Northern Illinois
Shurna's Hot Hand Guides Wildcats Past Huskies, 97-78
11/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2010
Box Score
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Site: DeKalb, Ill. (Convocation Center)
Score: Northwestern 97, Northern Illinois 78
Records: NU (1-0), Northern Illinois (0-1)
Next NU Event: Wednesday, Nov. 17 at Texas-Pan American, 7 p.m.
DeKALB, Ill. - John Shurna scored 22 of his career-high-tying 31 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Northwestern men's basketball fought off a slow start to pull away from Northern Illinois for a 97-78 victory in the season-opener for both teams Friday evening.
The 97 points are the most by a Wildcat team in the 11-year Bill Carmody era and are the most since a 97-93 overtime win over No. 8 Michigan on March 12, 1994.
Northwestern was ice cold from the field from the contest, connecting on just one of its first 13 field goal attempts while the Huskies started five for six as the hosts jumped out to an early 13-5 lead.
However, the switch to the 1-3-1 zone defense and the hot hand by Drew Crawford completely turned the game around. With the defense forcing turnovers at will, Crawford scored 12 points during a 19-3 run to turn an eight-point deficit into a 24-16 lead.
The NU lead grew to as many as 10 before Northern Illinois began to chip away at the Wildcats' advantage. The Huskies crept back within two, but a lay-in by Thompson at the first-half horn gave Northwestern a 43-38 edge going into the intermission.
The 'Cats forced nine turnovers by NIU in the first half and were able to convert them into 14 points.
Coming out of the locker rooms, Shurna found himself alone on the right wing on back-to-back possessions and nailed 3-pointers to stretch the Wildcats' advantage to 11 one minute into the second period, forcing the Huskies to burn a timeout.
The break did little to slow down the Wildcats, though. All told, NU started the second half on a 21-4 run to surge in front 64-42 with 14:31 remaining to put the game out of reach for all intents and purposes.
Shurna had 14 points during the surge and then tacked on eight more before the half had reached its midway point.
The Northwestern lead grew to as many as 26 points and the only thing in doubt was whether or not the Wildcats could reach the century mark. NU had 91 points with 4:46 remaining, but fell just shy of scoring 100 in a game for what would have been the first time in over 17 years.
Crawford posted 20 points in the contest, while Thompson added 15. Shurna finished one rebound shy of a double-double, while Luka Mirkovic had a game-high 10 boards as NU finished with a 35-29 edge on the glass.
Northwestern forced 19 turnovers for the game and converted them into 30 points.
The Wildcats return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they travel to UT-Pan American. The home opener is set for Friday, Nov. 19 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Tickets can be purchased at NUsports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE.
