John Shurna scored 18 of his game-high 32 points in the first half, and host Northwestern shot 54 percent from the field to storm past Eastern Illinois 87-72.

Shurna tied a school record with nine 3-pointers for the Wildcats (10-1), who completed a five-game homestand and now have road trips to Creighton and Ohio State looming over the holiday break.

Luka Mirkovic added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Northwestern, which led by five at halftime and then went on a 10-3 run early in the second half to take a 59-47 lead on Dave Sobolewski’s jumper with 12:04 remaining.

Sobolewski finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

Jeremy Granger scored 22 points to lead Eastern Illinois (6-4), which was coming off an eight-day hiatus for finals week. The Panthers, who fell to 1-4 away from home this season, allowed Northwestern to shoot 12 of 23 from beyond the arc.

Eastern Illinois hung with the Wildcats for much of the first half, but Northwestern closed the half on a 9-5 spur. The Wildcats took a 41-36 lead into the break on JerShon Cobb’s steal in the open court and fast-break layup.