On a night when the Wolfpack just didn’t quite have it, Anthony “Cat” Barber did. The junior guard hit the game-winning three as time expired to give the Wolfpack the 76-73 win over the visiting High Point Panthers Wednesday night at PNC Arena.
The Pack (7-3) was coming off a dominating road win at South Florida when they ran into an extremely well-coached High Point (8-3) team. The Panthers lost games to Power 5 schools Texas Tech and Georgia early on in the season by a combined seven points, so this team knew how to play with the big boys.
The Wolfpack seemed a bit sluggish in the early stages of the game, perhaps the result of a post-exam hangover. It didn’t help that sophomore forward Abdul-Malik Abu was battling a fever from Tuesday night that carried over into Wednesday morning. With his status in question, Abu brushed his shoulders off and posted a near double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds.
“At 10 o’clock this morning I was not anticipating him playing,” NC State head coach Mark Gottfried said. “I thought he played with great courage, he really did. He’s another young player getting better in front of our eyes every night.”
Gottfried once again opted to start junior BeeJay Anya over junior Lennard Freeman against the Panthers. Freeman’s been more productive this season when not in the starting lineup, as evidenced by his double-double performance in the Wolfpack’s Dec. 1 loss to Michigan.
Opening the game in a 2-3 zone defense, the Panther’s stifled the Pack’s offense in the first half. The Panthers even pulled out their full-court press early on in the game.
Anthony Lindauer provided all the offense for the Panthers in the first half. Shooting 5 of 7 from the field, including a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point range. Lindauer led all scorers with 15 first-half points.
The Panthers and Pack both shot 40 percent from the floor in the first half, but the difference maker came from beyond the arc where the Panthers shot 40 percent from the field in contrast to the Pack’s 22.2 percent.
Entering the half, the Pack held a slim 36-31 lead over the Panthers. Barber led the way for the Pack with 13 first-half points while freshman Maverick Rowan poured in seven points of his own.
The second half began much like the first one ended. The Panthers came out firing on all cylinders scoring both in the paint and on the three-point line. Lindauer’s hot hand carried over from the first half as he continued to torch the Pack, finishing with 18 for the Panthers.
The Wolfpack continued to let the Panthers hang around in the second half. Three-point shooting woes plagued the Pack the entire game as the Pack shot 36.8 percent from the floor compared to the Panthers’ 50 percent.
Coming down to the wire, the game was tied with 16.6 seconds left when sophomore guard Cody Martin stole a Panther inbounds pass and took it the other way. He was then fouled, rolling his ankle in the process. On the ensuing free throws by his replacement Anya, Rowan pulled down perhaps the most important rebound of the game to give the Pack the ball with 13.3 seconds left after a quick timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Barber initiated the play Gottfried drew up during the timeout. He dribbled back and forth across the top of the key before Caleb Martin set a screen to his left. He went to dribble off the screen but instead ran right into Martin.
Barber then heaved up a desperation three from the Wolfpack bench as time expired. The ball danced in the air for what seemed like an eternity before finding its final resting place at the bottom of the net giving the Pack the game’s final three points and the all-important win.
“I felt like [Trevor Lacey],” Barber said when compared to his former teammate from last season. “We ran that corner play for Maverick and it wasn’t there so I took matters into my own hands and just made the shot.”
Barber finished the game with 26 points, six assists, and Gottfried’s favorite stat of the night: zero turnovers. Rowan tacked on another 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting.
“I’m impressed with Cat for a lot of reasons tonight,” Gottfried said. “I’m very proud of Cat and where he’s going to as a player. He’s really developing and becoming very, very good.”
A win in this fashion is exactly what this Wolfpack team needed. While its early season play has been called into question, the Pack needs to keep the momentum up after this win as it rolls towards ACC play come January.
The Wolfpack travels to Columbia, Missouri Saturday to take on the Missouri Tigers as its nonconference slate continues.
