SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Relatively speaking, Marquette's defensive performance Saturday against Notre Dame sophomore forward Luke Harangody marked an improvement over its showing the last time these two teams met.

Harangody, who was battling a stomach virus, still managed to record a double-double, but his 18 points and 11 rebounds resounded less emphatically than did his showing Jan. 12 at the Bradley Center. That day, Harangody scored 29 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 92-66 Marquette win.

But the 6-foot-8, 251 pound forward did not receive much help on the offensive end back then. Only one other Notre Dame player scored in double figures in the loss.

Saturday, four other Fighting Irish players posted 10 points or more, which negated the increased defensive attention Marquette paid to Harangody.

"It's a minor thing; I think it was just focus," sophomore forward Lazar Hayward said of the adjustments his team made in guarding Harangody. "We take pride in defense, and guys were just more focused. You don't want to let a guy in and keep letting him score X-amount of points and getting X-amount of rebounds, and I think that's just their drive. That's how we play. We're always driven on defense."

Hayward, along with seniors Ousmane Barro and Lawrence Blackledge, as well as junior Dwight Burke, were charged with limiting Harangody's offensive production throughout the game. Marquette head coach Tom Crean said using one person to guard Harangody the whole game was out of the question.

Though the Fighting Irish outrebounded the Golden Eagles 43-37, Hayward and Barro maintained a consistent presence on the boards. Hayward pulled down 11 rebounds, while Barro, who made just his second start of the season and played 22 minutes, recorded 12.

"He did a nice job," Crean said. "Without the 12 rebounds, we're not playing for the last shot. No question about it."

Return to form

After playing through a right wrist injury in recent weeks and a bout with the flu Feb. 4 against Louisville, junior guard Dominic James put on a display near the end of Saturday's game that indicated he may be at or near full health.

In the final 3:22, Marquette went on a 13-6 run. James scored 10 of those points, including lay-ups on three consecutive possessions to keep Marquette within one point of the lead.

"Dominic is always looking to attack and finding guys, and that's when he's at his best, and he knows that," Hayward said. "He's a leader on this team, and we all play really well when he's rolling. But when he's in that attack mode, it's hard to stop him."

Sore Subject

Marquette went 5-of-8 from the free-throw line Saturday. Meanwhile, Notre Dame sunk 24 of its 31 free throw attempts. The large discrepancy in the number of trips each team took to the charity stripe was not a topic Crean wanted to expound on after the game.

"I'm not going there," Crean said. "Don't even—I'm not going anywhere near that."