Joshua Clark is not a starter for Marquette. Yet.
The 7-foot-1 redshirt sophomore, who came off the Golden Eagles’ bench in 23 games last season, shined as a reserve in Monday’s season-opening 78-43 win over Mercyhurst. He had a team-high 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting and added seven rebounds and three blocks.
Clark will look to follow up his fast start on Friday night in Milwaukee when Marquette (1-0) hosts Detroit Mercy in the Titans’ season opener.
“I’m not surprised,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said of Clark. “The last three or four weeks, he has been a different player. It is just the tip of the iceberg for him. He could be so good and he is starting to believe he can be good. He is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He has been here a long time and he has fought hard in those three years and overcome a lot. Kudos to Josh for continuing to grow.”
The Golden Eagles surged to a 36-14 lead at halftime Monday behind 11 points and five rebounds from Royce Parham and six points and eight rebounds from Sananda Fru.
Parham finished with 16 points and seven rebounds and Fru had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
“It was a huge emphasis of ours to establish our bigger guys around the basket,” Smart said. “Our starting group got off to a great start at the beginning and again to start the second half.”
Coach Mark Montgomery is entering his third season at Detroit Mercy, which finished 17-15 last season.
“I’m excited for year three and what it brings,” he said. “I’m excited to see if we can find our identity sooner rather than later. Every year is a journey.”
The Titans are led by Tyler Spratt, who was named to the preseason All-Horizon League second team.
Spratt played in all 32 games last season (28 starts) and was fourth on the team in scoring (9.9) and rebounding (3.6). His 55 3-pointers ranked second on the squad.