Max Strus' 43-point outburst for DePaul just put a huge dent in St. John's tournament hopes
It was Max Strus’ last home game for the last-place DePaul Blue Demons. That quickly became a deadly combination for the St. John’s Red Storm.
On his Senior Day, Strus was unstoppable. The guard went off for 43 points — with 36 of them coming in the second half — to pull off a 92-83 victory for the Blue Demons. If the victory wasn’t sweet enough, it may have also knocked their conference rival out of the NCAA Tournament.
St. John’s (20-10, 8-9 Big East) is now in fifth place in a conference that’s already crowding the bubble to get into the field of 68 on Selection Sunday. Early season victories over Rutgers and VCU, as well as a sweep of a ranked Marquette squad, might not help balance out lopsided losses to Duke, Providence, Xavier and now DePaul.
If the Red Storm find themselves watching the NCAA tournament from home, they can certainly blame themselves, but it’ll be tough not to curse Strus as well.
The senior shot 14-of-22 from the field (six-of-10 from three) and hit all nine of his free throws to go along with four rebounds.
He was launching the ball as quickly as he touched it, regardless of how tight the defense was playing him.
Make that 3️⃣2️⃣ for STRUS! #dpubb pic.twitter.com/XnzqIeXxK0
— DePaul Basketball (@DePaulHoops) March 3, 2019
Strus’ career-high also helped him pass the 1000-point mark for his career and make him a social media star for the time being.
Max Strus is a legend.
That is all.
(and yes, he’s on my top-100 prospect board. Think he’s a legit interesting player for NBA teams)— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) March 3, 2019
Hats off to Max Strus and @DePaulHoops! Fun game to watch.
43 on senior day. Special player. pic.twitter.com/4jq5eBsyMo— Brendan Bergen (@BrendanBergen_) March 3, 2019
Wow. @DePaulHoops’Max Strus just dropped 43 on St. John’s & 35 in 2nd Half on Senior Day. Looking like a young @wallyball.
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) March 3, 2019
Max Strus is out here hoopin’ against St. John’s. #DePaul pic.twitter.com/06zySIYbZP
— Emil Williams Jr. (@EWJR) March 3, 2019
Max Strus very emotional and cried when he talked about getting a standing ovation with 15 seconds left and how big the moment is.
— Geno Green (@TheGenoGreen) March 3, 2019
Max Strus might never miss another shot.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 3, 2019
Media trying to get Max Strus to brag about himself No. 2#BlueDreamin #DePaul pic.twitter.com/FIOZVoLqqw
— Paul Steeno (@pbsteeno) March 3, 2019
Whether Strus knew it or not, there were a few executives from the Chicago Bulls in the arena on Sunday to witness his unconscious shooting. It’s hard to watch that kind of performance and not come off impressed.
Afterwards, Strus tried to play things off like he’d been there before, which is a sound strategy after dropping 40 in your last home game, though no one could blame him if he wanted to brag a bit.
“The shots were just falling today,” Strus said. “I take those same shots every game. The most important thing today is that we won. If I would’ve done this and we lost I wouldn’t have even cared.”
The 43 points he put up on Sunday are the most since Strus scored 34 at UIC back in December.
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Blake Schuster is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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