Barro Leads Marquette to B&G Championship Game

Ousmane Barro has arrived.

The 6'10" junior turned in his finest performance at Marquette -- a 21 point, 13 rebound, 3 blocked shot effort that keyed the Golden Eagles' victory over the Northwestern State Demons at the Bradley Center, 83-67. Barro established a new career high in scoring tonight and matched his personal best in rebounding. Want proof? Check out the MUScoop photo gallery from the game.

Marquette will play North Dakota State on Saturday for the championship of the 2006 Pepsi Blue & Gold Classic. North Dakota State defeated Princeton earlier in the evening, 57-50.

Dominic James turned in another magnificent second half performance, finishing with 19 points, 13 in the second half. Wesley Matthews (14 points) and Jerel McNeal (13 points) contributed to a balanced offense tonight.

But the night belonged Barro, who delivered his second double-double in as many games. Barro was dominant throughout the game, finishing 10-13 from the field. The Demons simply had no answer for Barro's size and aggressive play. The big man's career night came at an important time for MU -- the Golden Eagles were dismal behind the arc again, going only 1-9 in the first half finishing at 20% for the game (3-15).

Early on, it appeared that the blizzard took a toll on the Demons as MU raced out to a 17-5 advantage. Northwestern State fought back to close the deficit to 36-32 at the half. Barro and Wesley Matthews led MU with 9 points each at that juncture, a half highlighted by 22 points in the paint for MU.

In the second half, MU charged out to a 50-32 lead on the strength of a 14-0 run through the first four minutes. Much like the first half, the Demons weathered the storm and cut the lead to as close as eight points several times, but were unable to seriously threaten Marquette's advantage.

With the victory, Marquette improves to 8-0 on the season.

MEDIA UPDATE

Tom Crean's post game comments, courtesy of MUScoop.

Here is the updated AP recap.

Here is the CNNSI box score.

Here is the Marquette Tribune report.

Todd Rosiak on Barro's career night.

J-S box score.

Marquette Hoops recap.