NC State goes on scoring spree
Anthony Barber made Wake Forest’s defense appear helpless in the second half.
Barber erupted for 30 of his 38 points after halftime to help NC State defeat Wake Forest 99-88 on Saturday at PNC Arena. The Wolfpack improved to 13-12 overall and 3-9 in the ACC, and the Demon Deacons continue to have their season unravel at 10-15 overall and 1-12 in the league, including 10 straight losses.
Barber made a living at the free-throw line with 17 alone in the second half. Wake Forest simply didn’t have an answer to keeping Barber off the line, and the Demon Deacons were called for 32 fouls — 19 after halftime. NCSU had a 33-18 advantage in free throws made thanks to Barber, who finished going 17 of 20.
“We came out today with enthusiasm and everybody was locked in,” said Barber, who got to the free-throw line on four straight possessions. “We played the whole game and got the win.
“There were a few bad calls and we had to play through it. It was frustrating, but we pulled through.”
Barber said he made sure the referees paid attention to him more in the second half.
“I sold it more,” Barber said. “In the first half, I’d be shooting the ball, and it was clearly a call, but I can’t make the refs change the calls. In the second half, I was more aggressive.”
Barber was one of four players in double figures for NC State. Freshman small forward Maverick Rowan had 20 points and made 7 of 8 at the free-throw line himself, and sophomore wing Caleb Martin drained four three-pointers and had 13 of his 18 points in the first half.
“He [Barber] just draws so much attention to himself,” Martin said. “He got a lot of people open like Maverick with threes, got me open and Cody [Martin] slashing. When Maverick and I start to hit three-pointers from the perimeter, that opens up the lanes for Cat that much more. He is just so crafty and makes that work.”
Coach Mark Gottfried wasn’t a fan of NC State walking the ball up and allowing Wake Forest to get set on defense during the first half, and urged Barber to become more aggressive with the tempo. Wake Forest entered the game last in the ACC in points allowed per game (80.9), in conference-only contests.
“The high and middle ball screens we used for him, he was just terrific there,” Gottfried said. “He was a lot more aggressive, just the way he attacked the defense.”
The 38 points capped off a fascinating last seven days for Barber. He threw a big scare into NC State fans last Saturday when he came down on his wrist in the loss at Duke. Barber then returned home to have his jersey retired at Hampton (Va.) High on Thursday. He clearly showed no ill effects from his wrist, and kept attacking the basket, possession after possession.
“That was a big event for me personally [at Hampton High], and I’m the second guy in that schools history to get that done,” Barber said. “That was big for me.”
NC State’s post players had its own issues in trying to battle Wake Forest senior center Devin Thomas, who had 15 points and 21 rebounds. Four NC State players had four fouls, including all three post guys.
Sophomore power forward Abdul-Malik Abu battled in the paint and had 11 points, six rebounds and an impressive four blocks in 27 minutes.
Wake Forest started the game hitting eight of its first 10 shots, thanks in part to senior shooting guard Codi Miller-McIntyre getting off to a hot start. Miller-McIntyre drove to the rim over and over for 10 quick points, and finished with a season-high 24 points for the game.
Wake Forest naturally started to cool off, and NC State methodically built itself out a hole.
NC State’s energy wasn’t ideal, but Martin provided the spark the Wolfpack needed. He came off the bench firing and hit three three-pointers and had 13 points to help propel NCSU to a 32-26 lead with 8:09 left in the first half.
Rowan helped Martin out on the perimeter, and also mixed in an impressive snatch of a offensive rebound for a basket as part of his 13 first-half points.
The second half started off much like the first, with Wake Forest going 8 of 11 from the field. The Demon Deacons got a lift off the bench from 7-foot freshman center Doral Moore. After back-to-back offensive rebounds for dunks, Moore’s presence loomed large, and WFU eventually took a 69-64 lead. Moore finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two blocks in just nine minutes.
Manning called Barber a “tough cover” but felt good about having a 34-32 points in the paint advantage.
“I thought we did a good job of getting the ball in the paint,” Wake Forest coach Danny Manning said. “We just have to figure out a way to get a foul call I guess. That would help us out.
“We scored more points in the paint, but we weren’t able to get to the free-throw line like they were.”
Rowan and Martin both connected from beyond the arc to jump-start NC State’s rally, and Barber took it from there.
“Wake Forest made a run and we had foul troubles, and some obstacles to overcome,” Gottfried said. “We could have dropped our head a little bit and didn’t.”
NC State has a quick turnaround, playing at No. 7-ranked Virginia (20-4) at 7 p.m. Monday. UVA played at Duke at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Tomorrow, we’ll have to practice hard,” Barber said. “We’ll enjoy this win tonight, but after we leave here, we have to get ready for Virginia. We just have to lock it in and do the same things.”