DePaul University
Marquette
Blue Demons Fall in BIG EAST Tournament Opener
3/8/2018 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
NEW YORK - Trailing by 14 points late in the first half, DePaul rallied and tied the game before Marquette held off the Blue Demons on the final possession in a 72-69 game Wednesday night in the BIG EAST Tournament. Marin Maric and Max Strus each scored 22 points to lead the Blue Demons while Eli Cain recorded his second double-double of the season.
Both teams started slow and Marquette built an early 7-2 advantage before Maric reeled off eight straight points to put DePaul ahead by a score of 10-7.
Marquette built their first half lead with an 18-5 run to take a 25-12 advantage with just over eight minutes left in the first half. The Blue Demons pulled to within seven points before the Golden Eagles scored five of the final six points of the first half to take a 39-27 score into intermission.
After scoring three points in the first half, Strus got rolling to start the second frame as Cain found the junior for an alley-oop dunk on DePaul's first possession. Cain finished the game with his second career double-double after totaling 12 points and 10 assists.
DePaul (11-20) pulled to within with seven, but Marquette pushed its lead back to double-digits over the first seven minutes of the second half.
Trailing by 12, Strus made two free throws followed by six straight points from Maric to pull the Blue Demons within four with 10:33 left. After a Marquette basket, Cain converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to just one at the 10-minute mark.
Marquette (19-12) went back up by six before Strus converted a three-point play, a three-pointer and an emphatic drive and dunk in the lane to tie the game at 61-61 with 5:45 left in the game.
The Golden Eagles answered with five straight points and Strus knocked down back-to-back three-pointers around a Sacar Anim jumper to make it a one-point game with 21 seconds left. Following a Marquette turnover with 12 seconds left, Strus' attempt to win the game came up empty and Andrew Rowsey made two free throws with less than a second left for the 72-69 final score.
Maric finished with a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double while Strus also scored 22 points with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Cain totaled 12 points and 10 assists while grabbing three rebounds.
Marquette was led by 25 points and six rebounds for Rowsey and Sam Hauser scored 16 points for the Golden Eagles.
Postgame Notes
- DePaul has made a three-pointer in 770 straight games.
- The Blue Demons are 10-24 all-time in conference tournament games... DePaul holds a 2-11 record in the BIG EAST Tournament.
- DePaul set a program tournament record with 17 assists and 26 free throw attempts... the 17 free throws made tied the team record.
- Eli Cain's 10 assists are the most by a DePaul player in a BIG EAST Tournament game... Marin Maric's seven free throws and Max Strus' three steals tied records.
- Eli Cain moved up to 22nd on DePaul's career assist chart... he has 286 through his three seasons at DePaul.
- Marin Maric recorded his sixth 20-point game (15th career) and fifth double-double (32nd career) of the season.
- Max Strus became the 38th player in program history to score at least 500 points in a season... he finished the season with 521 points... Strus finished the season second on DePaul's season three-point field goal list with 81 three's... he's the second player in program history to make at least 80 three's in a season.
- Wednesday was the 123rd all-time meeting between the two programs... the Golden Eagles hold a 76-47 advantage in the series... the two teams split the regular-season series... DePaul and Marquette met in the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time.
