Cat Guides Pack Past Pitt 81-70

If you tuned into to this game without knowing the circumstances, you’d have sworn that NC State was the team fighting for their post season life. The Pack, led by Cat Barber, played with a tenacity and a focus that State fans haven’t seen all season as they eliminated Pitt 81-70 in the 2nd round of the ACC Tournament. Let’s take a look at how they did it.

Cat Barber was amazing in this one. He finished with 34 points on 9-13 shooting, 4-5 from 3pt range and 12-12 from the line, all while adding 5 assists. This might not have been Barbers true coming out party (that happened a few weeks ago), this was certainly the game where he clearly claimed NC State’s leadership role. With the ball in his hands Barber was nearly unstoppable. He made great decisions, took smart shots and just played with a heightened sense of confidence.

“Today I was more aggressive.” said Cat. “You know, my teammates and the coaches keep saying to be me, be me. They need me down the stretch. Today I just came out with a high sense of urgency and confidence. I’m going to put the team on my back and that’s what I did”

 

Trevor Lacy Was On Fire
We’ve seen Lacey get hot, but he was a next level type of hot in this game. After starting off a little slow he had few stretches that were just insane. There was nothing the defense could do against him. He hit step back fadeaways, deep 3s and jumpers with hands in his face on his way to 21 points. When Lacey is in the zone like this, State is very, very hard to beat.

Nailed the Coffin Shut
NC State fans might be wondering what the catch is these past few games. NC State doesn’t seal victories. They don’t end up with runaway wins. Well, those days may be behind them and you can thank the extremely tough schedule Gottfried signed the Pack up for. This team has built toughness, learned lessons and are getting very good at closing out games.

“I think we learned from previous games where we had leads.” said Lacey. “We’ve allowed teams to go on runs and get momentum, but we’ve just learned from that and keep our foot on the gas. We’re not going to try to make crazy plays but we will take advantage of what we do have and that’s what we did.”

Defense was Always There
Pitt was playing for their life, but the NC State defense never let them get too much momentum. They cut off drives, made life a living hell for their bigs, and they really showed a lot of physicality and heart. Sure, Pitt shot lights out in the 2nd half, but the Wolfpack defense was was always there making things as tough as possible.

One reason State’s defense has really taken a step forward is because of Gottfried’s commitment to Lennard Freeman. The sophomore forward plays strong, physical, and smart position defense. He’s a relentless rebounder, and while he doesn’t provide too much offense, he’s actually starting to turn the corner in that regard.  He finished with 9 points and 6 boards.

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Up next is Duke at 7pm Thursday night.