Derrick on the Marks

There is a reason behind the hot start to Mountain West play for Boise State guard Derrick Marks.

When recently asked to reflect about his true freshman campaign from a year ago, he warmed up to a simple idea that changed the way he plays the game.

“As coach said, I was always chilling,” explained the sophomore guard with a smirk on his face. “This year, my teammates have been on me.”

Clearly their efforts have paid off as Marks has found a consistency that has turned him into one of the premier scorers in the conference.

Through three Mountain West games - remember he was suspended against Wyoming - Marks is averaging 24.7 points and shooting 53.3-percent from the field.

With 74 total points so far against Mountain West opponents, at this point in time a year ago he had just 17.

“It just comes with maturity,” Marks says. “This year I play harder.”


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- This past Wednesday, Marks enjoyed one of the finest performances of his career against Fresno State. Marks poured in a team-high 30 points and did so with incredible efficiency. He shot 9-of-14 from the floor and was a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line.

“That’s impressive to get 30 points in a Division I game,” said Boise State head coach Leon Rice, “we’re kind of getting used to him now scoring at that high level.”

- A further breakdown of Marks’ numbers between this year and last year after three conference games…

          Last    This
          Year    Year
PPG     5.6      24.7
FG%    37.5    53.3
APG     1.3      2.7
SPG     0.0      2.3
FTA      6        27

— Jay Tust (Follow on Twitter: @KTVBSportsGuy)