South Florida Bulls @ DePaul Blue Demons
Strus carries DePaul past South Florida to even CBI series
CHICAGO -- Max Strus scored 32 points and DePaul beat South Florida 100-96 in overtime Wednesday night, sending the College Basketball Invitational championship round to a deciding third game.
DePaul (19-16) will host the Bulls (23-14) on Friday night for the title.
Paul Reed had a career-high 28 points along with 16 rebounds and three blocks for the Blue Demons to tie the series at one game each. Femi Olujobi added 14 points.
Reed hit a 3-pointer to give DePaul an 82-79 lead, but he missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 57 seconds left in regulation. USF worked the ball around the arc and Alexis Yetna made a 3-pointer to tie it with a half-minute left. After a timeout, Strus dribbled down the clock, but nearly turned it over as time expired.
Lyrik Shreiner got into the lane and made a contested layup to extend DePaul's lead to 94-88 with 1:41 left in overtime. The Blue Demons stayed ahead by making foul shots.
Laquincy Rideau had a career-high 35 points and eight assists and South Florida. Yetna had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and Justin Brown added 13 points.
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Elements of this were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
Game Information
Chicago, IL
Referee:Steve McJunkins
Referee:Steve Honacki
Referee:John Floyd
2025-26 Standings
| American ConferenceAmerican Conference | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Florida | 15-3 | - | 25-9 |
| Tulsa | 13-5 | 2 | 30-8 |
| Wichita State | 13-5 | 2 | 24-12 |
| UAB | 11-7 | 4 | 20-12 |
| North Texas | 9-9 | 6 | 19-14 |
| Florida Atlantic | 9-9 | 6 | 18-15 |
| Charlotte | 9-9 | 6 | 17-17 |
| Tulane | 8-10 | 7 | 18-15 |
| Temple | 8-10 | 7 | 16-16 |
| Memphis | 8-10 | 7 | 13-19 |
| Rice | 7-11 | 8 | 13-18 |
| East Carolina | 6-12 | 9 | 11-20 |
| UTSA | 1-17 | 14 | 5-25 |
| Big East ConferenceBig East Conference | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John's | 18-2 | - | 30-7 |
| UConn | 17-3 | 1 | 34-6 |
| Villanova | 15-5 | 3 | 24-9 |
| Seton Hall | 10-10 | 8 | 21-12 |
| Creighton | 9-11 | 9 | 16-18 |
| DePaul | 8-12 | 10 | 16-16 |
| Butler | 7-13 | 11 | 16-16 |
| Providence | 7-13 | 11 | 15-18 |
| Marquette | 7-13 | 11 | 12-20 |
| Georgetown | 6-14 | 12 | 16-18 |
| Xavier | 6-14 | 12 | 15-18 |
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