Playing for the first time in 10 days, host Northwestern got 20 points from John Shurna and opened the game on a 23-3 run, beating Texas Southern 81-51, on Thursday.

The Wildcats (8-1), who hadn’t played since suffering their first loss of the season on Dec. 4 against Baylor, were sharp in the early going against the overmatched Tigers (1-7). Northwestern hit eight of its first 12 shots, and Drew Crawford scored 10 of his 17 points in the first seven minutes.

JerShon Cobb’s 3-pointer with 12:41 left in the half closed the run and staked Northwestern to a 20-point lead.

The Tigers rallied late in the first half, pulling within 32-20 on Madarious Gibbs’ layup with 2:48 to go before halftime. But Northwestern scored the final nine points of the half.

Shurna, second in the Big Ten in scoring at 18.9 points, finished 5-for-7 from 3-point range. Dave Sobolewski added 15 points. The Wildcats, who shot just 24.1 percent in the loss to Baylor, finished 29-for-61 from the field (47.5 percent).

Patrick Onwenu led the Tigers with nine points.