St. John's Red Storm vs DePaul Blue Demons Match Player Stats On Mar 03, 2019

Max Strus scored a career-high 43 points to lead DePaul to a 92-83 victory against St. John's in Big East action Saturday in Chicago.

Strus sank 14 of 22 field goals, including 6 of 10 from 3-point range, and made all nine of his free throws to reach the 1,000-point milestone for his career.

Femi Olujobi added a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Blue Demons (14-13, 6-10) snapped a four-game skid and won at home for the first time since Feb. 2.

Shamorie Ponds led the Red Storm with 29 points on 8-of-15 shooting. LJ Figueroa and Marvin Clark added 13 points apiece for St. John's (20-10, 8-9), which lost for the third time in four games.

Strus took over for DePaul in the second half. He buried a series of pull-up and fadeaway jump shots in addition to pinpoint shooting from beyond the arc. His off-balance layup high off the glass broke a 76-all tie with 3:54 to go.

On the next possession, Strus knocked down a mid-range jumper to increase DePaul's lead to 80-76.

St. John's struggled to keep pace as four players fouled out, including starters Clark, Justin Simon (nine points) and Josh Roberts (two points).

DePaul trailed by nine points at halftime before rallying to even the score at 53 with 13:05 to play. Strus hit a step-back jump shot to erase the deficit.

A baseline jumper by Strus gave the Blue Demons their first lead of the game, 57-55, with 11:18 to play.

St. John's built a 42-33 lead at the half. The Red Storm enjoyed an early boost from Simon, who had nine points, three rebounds and three steals at the break.

Olujobi led DePaul with 10 points and eight rebounds in the first half.

The Blue Demons struggled badly in the first five minutes as St. John's threatened to sprint toward a blowout win. The Red Storm started the game on a 10-0 run and increased their lead to 14-2 before the Blue Demons regrouped.

After a five-day break, St. John's will travel to face Xavier next Saturday in its regular-season finale.

DePaul will wrap up its home schedule against Georgetown on Wednesday night.

--Field Level Media