How will Marquette's rotation change as competition heats up vs. Michigan?

The Marquette men’s basketball team did all it needed to do in its first two games.

The Golden Eagles obliterated their two foes by an average of 48 points. Nobody got hurt. Every member of the team logged some playing time.

The large margins of victory and inflated statistics have MU rocketing up analytics sites, but that doesn’t mean anything with that small of a sample size.

But the Golden Eagles’ two games this week will be revealing, starting with their first road test at Michigan (1-1) on Nov. 11 and then a date with Missouri (1-1) on Nov. 15 in Chicago.

“It’s obviously a major step up in competition,” MU head coach Shaka Smart said. “It’s a major step up in athleticism and size.”

How much will MU’s starting lineup play?

Smart’s rotation will undoubtedly get tighter in these games. The starting lineup will definitely see an uptick in minutes.

Nigel James Jr. and Sananda Fru, probably the two most important players on the roster, only averaged 22 minutes in the two blowouts. Those numbers should be at 30 or more for these types of games.

It will also be interesting to see how much more Damarius Owens will play. Smart likes Owens playing with that starting unit for more size and athleticism.

“A defensive mindset,” Owens said. “Those guys do a great job of scoring in their own ways. NJ is very quick. Adrien (Stevens) is a knockdown shooter. Sunny and Royce (Parham) are killing in the paint.

“My game is very simple. Just seeking knifes (cuts) or gaps in the floor. Whenever I get those … easy layups, open 3s. I feel like I fit in perfectly with them.”

Those five players together also have the makings of an elite defensive unit.

“If you can be aggressive and physical and get your hands on the ball, but without sending them to the line. that’s a hallmark of how we want to be,” Smart said.

“We still have a long way to go with some of our defensive rotations and defensive positioning. I thought our guys flew around (against Detroit). They played hard. They helped each other. And obviously (this week) our competition level will go up. So that will demand certain other things on the defensive end where we can keep getting better.”

Can the two freshmen play against high-major competition?

MU has more depth than in recent seasons, with Nolan Minessale spelling all the perimeter positions, Josh Clark looking like a capable backup big and Colin Porter (as long as he’s eligible) bringing experience and steadiness as a ball-handler.

The question is where freshman forwards Alex Egbuonu and Ethan Johnston fit in. In the summer, it seemed like Johnston would be the one pushing for minutes because his defensive versatility will fit with any lineup.

“We got to come in and follow up with energy,” Egbuonu said of the bench unit. “We got to keep the team going, keep the energy going. Coach emphasizes that every day.”

Egbuonu has made a big leap in the past month. He had 16 points against Detroit Mercy, but more promisingly dropped 14 points in 13 minutes in the exhibition against Michigan State.

“He can put the ball in the basket,” Smart said. “He’s someone that has always had a natural ability to score in different ways. He’s someone that can use his physicality and his body to punish people. But he’s also got a lot of footwork. He’s just got a really good sense of what to do with the ball. He’s also a good passer.

“Just going to help him continue to adjust to college and everything that comes into playing at this level. The competition at this level. Quite frankly, with him and Ethan, they are used to being in the game all the time. And now they might go in for a short spurt.”

Let’s see Josh Clark against some aggressive big men

It’s evident that Clark, the 7-foot-1 big man in his third season with the program, has gotten much better.

Clark only played sparingly against high-major opponents last season, so how he responds to an increase in physicality will be worth watching.

Michigan doesn’t have the vaunted front line that helped the Wolverines win the NCAA championship last season, but they still have 7-2 Moustapha Thiem and 6-11 JP Estrella as starters and 6-10 Quinn Costello coming off the bench.

“They’re both big, athletic, strong,” Smart said of Thiem and Estrella. “They can rebound. It’s going to be a war in there.

“For us, we got to bring our hard hat. That’s just one component of the game that as a team, if we work together, can go in here and scrap out rebounds. Even against the bigger teams.”