Northwestern downs Central Connecticut State 74-54

John Shurna scored a career-high 29 points as Northwestern defeated Central Connecticut State 74-54 Tuesday night for its ninth straight victory and its best start in 79 years.

The last time the Wildcats (10-1) won 10 of their first 11 games was also the last time they won an outright Big Ten championship -- 1930-31. The winning streak is their longest since they went 9-0 to open the 1993-94 season, and they then lost their first nine conference games.

Northwestern, which hasn't finished as high as fourth place or had a winning record in the Big Ten since 1968, starts conference play Dec. 30 at Illinois.

Robby Ptacek scored 22 points for Central Connecticut State (3-6), which has played only one home game.

Drew Crawford scored 15 and Michael Thompson 14 for the Wildcats, whose start has been especially impressive in that they have been without Kevin Coble, the No. 14 scorer in school history.

Coble, Northwestern's top scorer and rebounder each of the last three years, is expected to miss the entire season with a foot injury.

Thompson scored 10 points in the first six minutes as Northwestern took a 15-6 lead. Two free throws by Ptacek narrowed the Blue Devils' deficit to 19-15, but the Wildcats outscored Central Connecticut State 15-7 to take a 34-22 halftime lead. Shurna had 11 consecutive Northwestern points during the stretch.

The Wildcats led 47-35 midway through the second half before Luka Mirkovic scored six points to spark a 10-0 run.

Northwestern coach Bill Carmody cleared his bench with four minutes remaining and a 65-46 lead but came back with his starters about two minutes later after the Blue Devils scored eight straight points. Shurna then ended the game with a personal 9-0 run.