The NC State men’s basketball team started well for the first 10 minutes of Wednesday’s game but faded quickly the rest of the night as it fell 80-68 to the rival UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels at PNC Arena.
Junior guard Cat Barber led the Wolfpack (14-14, 4-11 ACC) with 32 points, being joined in double figures by sophomore forward Abdul-Malik Abu, who had 15 points, and sophomore forward Caleb Martin, who had 11. Senior forward Brice Johnson led the Tar Heels (23-5, 12-3 ACC) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, joined by sophomore forward Justin Jackson, who had 17, and senior guard Marcus Paige, who had 10.
“I loved our start,” head coach Mark Gottfried said. “We had a great start and didn’t sustain it, but I thought our guys competed really hard. I think at about the 10- or 11-minute mark it was a four-point game. I thought they had a little run that made separation, and that was the difference.”
The Wolfpack got off to a quick start tonight, outscoring the Tar Heels 23-10 over the game’s first eight minutes and change. Barber wasted little time bouncing back from his tough game against Clemson, scoring 16 of the Pack’s first 23 points. He shot a ridiculous 7 of 10 from the field in the early going, hitting a 3-pointer to cap off the run that sent the crowd into pandemonium.
“I was anxious coming out,” Barber said. “Last game I didn’t play well, so tonight Coach told me to be aggressive, and that’s what I did.”
UNC took over following Baber’s three, outscoring State 28-8 to lead 38-31 with 2:05 to play in the half. After its hot start, it seemed nothing could go right for the Pack over this stretch, as the team simply couldn’t get a shot to fall and allowed open shots galore to the Heels. A dunk by Abu at the 9:14 mark of the first was the team’s last field goal of the half, and the team trailed 38-33 at the break.
“It’s tough being that hot, and then they fixed their defense to make me stop shooting,” Barber said. “It’s difficult being the guy that the other team is keying on and trying to stop.”
The first 5:30 of the second half saw the Pack settle down a bit, but it was still outscored 13-10 by the Heels for a 51-43 deficit. The Pack managed to put a little pressure on, as a three by Martin at the 13:41 mark brought the team within four at 52-48.
That was followed by a 9-0 run for Carolina, however, including a pretty passing play that led to a wide-open dunk for junior Isaiah Hicks and a layup by Johnson at the 11:30 mark to push NC State’s deficit to 13 at 61-48. Luck was not on the side of the Pack, as it continued to see several contested shots just roll off the rim.
“We had too many defensive breakdowns; we didn’t defend the ball-screen action well enough at all,” Gottfried said. “I thought that was our biggest defensive flaw. They got inside of us, they got in the paint, I thought that was probably the difference more than anything.”
Caleb Martin made another three at the 11:03 mark, this one a nice contested shot that seemed like it might give the Pack life, but UNC continued to push the pace, getting another basket from Hicks at the 7:06 mark to push its lead to 17 at 70-53.
The teams were content to trade scores as the rest of the half wound down, with State not being able to get enough going to get in it. Barber continued to be a bright spot for the Pack, showing off his skills including on a nice cut to the inside and layup to get to 32 points on the night with 2:39 to go.
Both teams seemed fine with playing out the string down the stretch, and the Pack fell 80-68.
The Pack will next hit the road to take on the Syracuse Orange (18-10 8-7 ACC) at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York for one of its final three regular season games.
Cody Martin falls to the ground in disbelief in the second half. The NC State Wolfpack lost to the UNC tarheels, 80-68, at PNC Arena on February 24, 2016.
