College Basketball National Player of the Week: DePaul's Max Strus messed up the makeup of the Big East standings

You put up the most points at your school in more than 30 years -- and crack 1,000 career points in the process? What a week

An unexpected entrant into our Player of the Week catalogue: welcome DePaul senior guard Max Strus. 

The Blue Demons' most important player is coming off two games in which he averaged 34.0 points and was a combined 24-of-37 from the field (64.9 percent). He was also 12 for 13 from the foul line. DePaul lost at Georgetown on Wednesday, but Sunday afternoon brought a Demons' home win over St. John's that got DePaul back above .500 and threw the Big East seeding picture into a sandy mess. 

Strus dropped a career-best 43 points on SJU, including 6-of-10 from 3-point land and a perfect 9 for 9 from the foul line. No DePaul player had put up 43 in a game since, get this, 1988. Stanley Brundy had 47 back then. What put Strus over the top this week was the fact that he had 36 points in the second half to surge DePaul past St. John's. It was one of the most dominant halves by a single player this season. 

His 43-point outburst also put Strus over 1,000 career points. Cheers to him, and who knows, maybe this team can play a spoiler in next week's Big East tournament. 

DePaul finishes up its regular season with a Wednesday home finale vs. Georgetown and then goes on the road to face Creighton on Saturday. One more league win will get DePaul to seven, which would be its most in 12 years.