John Shurna set up camp in the paint, scoring 17 points to lead Northwestern to a 60-36 win over Texas-Pan American at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Northwestern (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) improved to 8-4 in season openers and 7-5 in home openers under head coach Bill Carmody.

Texas-Pan American (0-2, 0-0 GWC) fell to 0-7 all-time versus the Wildcats.

The Wildcats’ size overwhelmed the smaller Broncos as Northwestern scored 26 points in the paint. Shurna, a Preseason Second-Team All-America selection, was 7 for 11 from the field and pulled down five rebounds. Six-foot-11 senior Luka Mirkovic, who scored seven of NU’s first nine points, added 12 points.

The Broncos would not go down quietly, making the Wildcats work on both ends while outhustling NU on the boards. The Broncos won the rebounding battle 35-32 despite boasting no regular rotation player taller than 6-foot-7.

Northwestern eventually broke the game open with a 13-5 run early in the second half, eventually pulling ahead by 20 points midway through the period

Brandon Provost scored 12 points for the Broncos while Aaron Urbanus returned from a knee injury to also score 12 points.

Texas-Pan American shot just 29.8 percent from the field and was only 3 of 23 from beyond the 3-point arc.