MILWAUKEE — The Marquette Golden Eagles hit the gas from the word go in their season-opening win against the Mercyhurst Lakers, 78-43. Sophomore forward Joshua Clark had a career day with 18 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, and a plus-17 rating. Making his Marquette debut, Sananda Fru collected a double-double, with 12 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, and one steal. Junior forward Royce Parham was the only other Golden Eagle to reach double figures in scoring with 16 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Nigel James, Jr., Adrien Stevens, and Nolan Minessale struggled on offense, combining for just 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
Jake Lemelman was the only player for Mercyhurst who eclipsed double figures with 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting, but was a game-worst minus-41 on the stat sheet. Hunt Te Ratana, Markus Maxwell-Grimes, and Cameron Johnson were the only other players to make more than one basket, and combined for 21 points.
What Did We Learn?
Marquette’s defense is already looking scary. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Shaka Smart’s teams always start on the defensive end. Marquette looked sharp on that end, limiting Mercyhurst to just 29 percent from the field and 15 percent from beyond the arc. That, combined with nine blocks and nine steals, made for a great night for the Golden Eagles on defense.
“I thought our starting group did a terrific job at the beginning of both halves, setting the tone on the defensive end,” Smart said. “I believe we got a kill (three defensive stops in a row) to start the game and a kill to start the second half, and that was just really important for us.”
While the Golden Eagles won’t be able to have this type of defensive performance every night in terms of points allowed, they can have the right mindset going into each game. Fru, who made his Marquette debut last night, talked about how the team will come out every game this season.
“Just showing out like we’re here to win. I don’t know about last season, but this year we’re here to win playing defense. It doesn’t matter; we’re going to be the more aggressive team every day.” Fru said. “Like a day like today, we didn’t shoot as well as we did in the last couple of exhibition games, but we’re still going to win and be aggressive.”
Three Observations
Alex Egbuonu might have a bigger role than previously thought
Marquette had a lot of dunks tonight, but one of the most thunderous came from freshman wing Alex Egbuonu. He drove the baseline off an action and threw down a one-handed jam. Smart said that type of play is one they’re going to show all year long, exactly what to do in that spot.
“He’s aggressive on offense, man; that’s the thing about Alex, he’s never met a shot he doesn’t like. No one is going to have to tell him to be aggressive or assertive with the ball,” Smart said. “We have an action that we run along the sideline, often called ‘Highway,’ and it’s got multiple components to it, but the first is we want our guys to be aggressive, and he did a great job being aggressive on the first part of Highway, and he dunked the ball. I told our coaches that’s going to be shown all year to remind our guys to be assertive in that particular action.”
The two other transfers look good already.
Fru obviously had an exceptional game in his Marquette debut, but he wasn’t the only transfer introducing themselves to the Marquette faithful. Nolan Minessale and Colin Porter each made their first appearance coming off the bench for the Golden Eagles. While the scoring wasn’t quite there for either guy, they both made their impacts in other ways. Porter picked up a couple of rebounds and an assist, but also snatched two steals and looked really solid on defense overall. Beyond that, he settled the team down when he was on the floor.
As for Minessale, despite just one shot attempt, he ran the offense well, dishing out three assists, which included a lob dunk to Clark. The way Minessale ran things, you could see beyond the stat sheet, and Smart was pleased with what he saw out of him on Monday night.
“Man, I thought he played the right way. You gotta remember, this is a guy who averaged 20 points per game last year, and he shot one time tonight. He played the right way; he attacked, he was aggressive. There was a terrific combination between him and Josh Clark where he got him a lob dunk.” Smart said. “He’s one of our best players; don’t make any mistake about it. He’s going to be in the game at crunch time for us a lot, and he’s just getting started.”
Joshua Clark looked much improved from last year.
It’s been a heck of a progression arc for Joshua Clark since he came to Marquette. From a guy who didn’t receive a single scholarship outside of Marquette to someone who truly belongs is remarkable. It becomes even more astounding after Smart revealed last night that Clark’s high school coach thought that he couldn’t function in Smart’s practice, let alone a game. Now he’s setting career highs across the board as he begins his third year with the Golden Eagles.
“I’m happy for Josh, but he’s just got so much room for growth and improvement. As I just told his parents out there, I’m going to stay on his ass. I’m proud of him with the work he’s put in; this is not surprising because the last three or four weeks he’s been a different player.” Smart said.
Another big part of his development was bringing in a guy like Fru this offseason. Having an experienced player, who’s even played internationally, will be a big boost to what Clark can do. Clark talked about the impact Fru has had on him since he arrived.
“My coaches and my teammates have helped me believe in myself a lot more and gain a lot of confidence this offseason,” Clark said. “(Going against Fru) Iron sharpens iron, that’s what we say; he’s a physical body. Just getting a look every practice, I’m giving him the same look of what the real Big East game is going to look like and the physicality of it.”
Bonus Bits
- Kills Counter: 10
- Deflections Counter: 36
- The first-half points the Golden Eagles allowed were the fewest they’ve allowed in the first half since the 2019-20 season opener against Loyola-Maryland. They won that game, 88-53, with Markus Howard going for 38 points.
- Three members of the Milwaukee Brewers World Series championship team attended Marquette’s season opener, including bullpen catcher Christian Correa, All-Star Jackson Chourio, and NL MVP finalist Brice Turang. Smart said after the game that Turang talked with the team before the game and gave some good words of wisdom:
“We’ve been talking about the Brewers and using all these examples from the Brewers, really going back to late in the regular season of the major leagues. The guys have been inundated with all the things that those guys do, so it was perfect,” Smart said. “(Turang) did a great job talking to our guys; he told them about the relationships that the Brewers have, the connectivity they have. He said something really powerful: when they get behind, we’re behind, not losing, and it was a powerful distinction.”
Up Next
Marquette will return to the Al McGuire Center for its third “students-only” game, hosting Detroit Mercy this Friday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central Time and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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