Before the year started, coach Crean said his biggest concern was rebounding. Marquette slaughtered Northwestern State on the glass Friday, doubling the Demons rebounding output 56-to-28 en route to an 83-67 win.,”One of Tom Crean's biggest questions entering this season crept closer to being answered Friday night.

Before the year started, coach Crean said his biggest concern was rebounding. Marquette slaughtered Northwestern State on the glass Friday, doubling the Demons rebounding output 56-28 en route to an 83-67 win. The victory extended the Golden Eagles' perfect record to 8-0 and pitted them against North Dakota State in Saturday's Blue & Gold Classic Championship at the Bradley Center.

"That's a big emphasis that we put on defensive rebounding," said sophomore Wesley Matthews, who had eight rebounds. "That's how you win games. If you can out-rebound a team the way that we have then good things are going to happen."

Junior center Ousmane Barro finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs. Five of his boards were on the offensive end, aiding Marquette's 18-7 advantage in second chance points. Barro, who received a standing ovation to bellows of "Oooouusse" when he was taken out late, eclipsed his previous career high of six rebounds in five of Marquette's first eight games.

"Coach has been getting on me in practice about rebounding," he said. "It's the main thing."

He added that his focus will be to maintain prowess on the glass once the Big East season begins. Indeed, that endeavor would be crucial to Marquette's success should it happen when the competition stiffens.

"He sees himself as a producer, not just as a player," Crean said of Barro's improvement.

The team has out-rebounded opponents in every game with the exception of an 73-62 win against Duke. Marquette still managed to keep the rebounding margin close against Duke, a team known for its rebounding every year, with the Blue Devils edging the Golden Eagles 36-32 on the glass on Nov. 21.

"We've got to play with a real desperation mindset defensively and with the rebounding and let everything else go from there," Crean said.

Notes:

Northwestern State guard Colby Bargeman kept Marquette's onslaught from turning into a blowout. He scored a team-high 17 points and had eight rebounds.

The Golden Eagles blew away the Demons on the offensive boards. Marquette pulled down more offensive rebounds by a 24-10 margin, leading to an 18-7 advantage in second chance points. Marquette also led in points in the paint, 54-18.

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