Cat Barber dominated the pace (10pts, 6 assists, and 7 boards), Trevor Lacey found his shot (19pts) and Ralston Turner lit it up on his senior night (19pts) as the Pack dominated Syracuse 71-57. This win very likely locks NC State into the NCAA Tournament. What seed they will be awarded is yet to be determined. Let’s take a look at how they dismantled the orange.

Barber Controlled This Game
Cat Barber’s arrival has been well chronicled, but his entire repertoire was showcased in this one. Not only was he strong with the basketball throughout, he single handedly broke the Syracuse press anytime they applied pressure. He was slippery, quick and very decisive as he pushed the tempo and made good decision after good decision. His 6 dimes led the team and was the main reason NC State’s offense ran so effectively in the 2nd half. Now that he is knocking down jumpers teams are forced to play up on him and respect him on his drives. This is forcing help to step up, and when they do, Barber is finding the open man. If they are too slow, he makes them pay with a quick 2. An aggressive Barber was the difference today and will be going forward.

Gottfried’s Scheduling is Paying Off
There were a lot of people knocking Coach Gott midway through this season, but you can go ahead and classify them as shortsighted. Gottfried methodically mapped out a schedule for NC State that allowed them to play quality opponents all season long. Early in the season State often looked overwhelmed by pressure and throw off by physicality but as of late you can see those experiences paying off. The Wolfpack guards have been strong with the basketball and have looked like seasoned vets against full court pressure. Syracuse trapped a lot down the stretch and showed different looks out of their zone but NC State rarely looked surprised and quickly made them pay for their aggressiveness. Those early games will certainly pay off during tourney time.

Turner and Lacey Getting Hot
These two guys were big and need to big going forward. They combined for 38 points on the night and hit a ton of big shots (especially in the 2nd half.) Like it or not State is going to go as far as Turner and Lacey can take them and against Syracuse they took the Pack all the way. Turner was coming off a big game against Clemson in which he scored 23 points. Lacey on the other hand has really struggled to find his stroke over the past few weeks. Tonight was another big showing for Turner, but it was the late season breakout Lacey was needing. He started off the night hitting his first 3 from the corner and never looked back. He finished 7-14 from the field and 3-7 from beyond the arc, which are close to his averages before his little slump. Beating Syracuse’s zone isn’t easy, but when you have some hot shooters it really opens things up. Turner’s big game came on senior night after a night of failing to get much sleep.

“I couldn’t really sleep last night.” Said Turner. I was up thinking about this game and my time here at NC State. This was a great way to go out, with a win.”

Interior Defense
While the Pack might have the youngest front court in the ACC, they sure aren’t playing like it this season. First they shut down the ACC’s best big in Louisville’s Harrell and now they come out and make life miserable for Rakeem Christmas. The star forward did have 15 points and 12 boards, but his 5-16 shooting dug the Orange into a hole. Credit Beejay Anya, Lennard Freeman, Malik Abu and Kyle Washington. All of State’s bigs played active, strong defense in the paint and made scoring in the post a real nightmare. Anya finished with 3 block (2 of which were massive) and Washington added 3 of his own. NC State won the battle of the boards by a narrow margin 43-42.

Up Next….The ACC Tournament
State has a few days of downtime before heading to Greensboro as the #7 seed. They will play Wednesday night against Pitt at 7pm. The Pack smashed the Panthers by 18 at the PNC arena earlier this season. Pitt has looked miserable as of late, dropping their last 3 games to Wake, Miami and FSU.