Strus scores 20, DePaul defeats Marquette 70-62

CHICAGO — Max Strus scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and joined Marin Maric with a double-double and DePaul defeated Marquette 70-62 on Saturday.

Eli Cain had 14 points and Maric and Brandon Cyrus added 13 apiece for the Blue Demons (11-17, 4-12 Big East). Maric had 13 rebounds and Strus 11 as DePaul had a 49-30 rebounding advantage, including 19-6 on the offensive end that led to a 15-4 difference in second-chance points.

Down 33-28 at intermission, early in the second half DePaul scored seven straight points to tie the game and then pushed that to a 24-5 run to lead 52-40 with 7½ to go. Cyrus had eight points in the game-changing run. The Blue Demons made 17 of 21 free throws in the second half, 10 of 12 in the last two minutes.

Andrew Rowsey led Marquette (16-12, 7-9) with 16 points.