The home loss to Charlotte Saturday did include one bright spot for the Golden Eagles: the emergence of freshman forward Ousmane Barro.

Barro played a career-high 22 minutes against the 49ers, notching nine points and grabbing five rebounds and adding an assist and a block.

But the most impressive statistic on the box score for Barro was the lowest one: his zero fouls in the first half, which allowed him to stay in the game long enough to be productive.

Since the season started, Barro — who had never played a game of organized basketball before this year — has been in consistent foul trouble, often flashing a spark of promise before several quick fouls would send him to the bench.

Averaging just 9.7 minutes per game prior to Saturday's matchup with Charlotte, Barro was also averaging two fouls per contest.

By comparison, senior forward Marcus Jackson — Marquette's primary post player — was averaging 25.5 minutes per game and 2.6 fouls.

Working without the shrill tone of the referee's whistle as a soundtrack, Barro was able to make music of his own with the basketball, hitting mid-range jumpers, under-the-basket layups, and even, at one point, dishing a pass to Travis Diener in the post in a brief episode of role-reversal.

Barro stayed in the game for the first 13 minutes, and finished the afternoon with just two fouls.

"You're starting to see what we see in practice," head coach Tom Crean sad. "He looked like a cagey veteran down there with the ball. I thought he really looked like he belonged out there, and he was really doing good things for us."

Crean said that Barro had earned the start Saturday — the first of his career — by playing hard in the loss against DePaul two days before.

You have to get the gift horse before looking it in the mouth…

While there are weaknesses to its game, Marquette can usually be counted on to make free throws like clockwork.

But despite a 72.7 free throw percentage heading into the game with Charlotte, the Golden Eagles shot just 53.8 percent from the charity stripe, making zero trips to the line in the first half of play.

"We're such a good free throw shooting team, when we're not getting fouled, that is what is the biggest problem in our first halves," Crean said. "We're not getting enough free throws. We're certainly not in the bonus early enough."

And you were there, and a Billiken, and a Blue Demon, and a 49er…

After the Golden Eagles beat Saint Louis in a down-to-the-wire game at the Bradley Center almost a year ago on Jan. 10, 2004, the team went on to lose three in a row. They would finish the year without qualifying for the NCAA Tournament and would exit the NIT in the third round.

After the Golden Eagles beat South Florida in a down-to-the-wire game at the Bradley Center Jan. 15, they lost two in a row, one to DePaul on the road Thursday and again Saturday. The team is facing a tough challenge and will have to work hard to avoid another three game losing streak when they face a tough Louisville team on the road Wednesday.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Jan. 25 2005.