The NC State men’s basketball team upset Pittsburgh Panthers Tuesday 78-61 on the road, earning its first ACC win of the season and breaking out of a five-game losing streak against one of the league’s better teams.
Pittsburgh (15-3, 4-2 ACC) tallied the opening basket, but the Wolfpack (11-8, 1-5 ACC) quickly countered with a 12-2 run behind the efforts of sophomore Cody Martin, who hit the team’s first shot and followed up with two assists and a steal leading to a basket, all coming before the under-16 timeout.
Defensive intensity was the difference early against a Panthers team that came into the game with the sixth most efficient offense in the country. The Wolfpack forced Pittsburgh to make its shots from the perimeter and the home team struggled mightily to do so.
After a Sterling Smith jump-shot with 17:16 left in the first half, the Panthers missed their next 10 shots from the field, allowing the Wolfpack lead to balloon to 25-6.
The shooting of Maverick Rowan was a boon to NC State’s offense; the freshman guard hit three of his four shots from beyond the arc, finishing the first half with nine points.
As usual, Anthony “Cat” Barber led the offense in scoring with 14 first-half points while adding four assists. Behind his efforts, the Wolfpack’s lead reached its summit at 44-16 with just 41 seconds remaining in the half.
Pittsburgh cut the lead to 25 going into halftime, but nonetheless, NC State dominated in nearly every way possible for the first 20 minutes.
The Panthers, who came into the game shooting 49 percent on the season, shot just 25 percent in the first half and totaled just six points in the paint, where they tend to be most comfortable. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack shot 58 percent, with 20 points in the paint, and won the rebounding battle 24-11.
However, the Panthers were not about to roll over in the second half on their home court. With the score 51-26 at the 17:35 mark, Pittsburgh went on a 13-2 run in just six minutes to the cut the deficit to 16.
Junior forward Jamel Artis accounted for seven of those points and appeared to have put Pitt in striking distance. That is, before Barber had his say.
The star junior point guard caught fire from the field, scoring nine points in under three minutes to battle off the Panthers’ surge and extend the lead to 66-48 with 8:00 remaining.
From there, the Wolfpack dragged the pace to a near halt and Pittsburgh failed to add any points until there was just 3:25 left on the clock. At that point, there was simply not enough time left and State would ultimately claim victory 78-61.
The victory couldn’t have come at a better time for the Wolfpack, who came into the game winless in ACC play and with no tournament-quality wins to their name.
Barber was the clear MVP of the game, finishing with 31 points, including a 14-for-14 performance at the free throw line. But the Wolfpack could not have won without the dominating rebounding performances of Abdul-Malik Abu (10) and Lennard Freeman (14). Abu also added 16 points, capping off his ninth double-double of the season, good for 14th nationally.
NC State looks to keep rolling on Saturday at 2 p.m. as it hosts the No. 20 Duke Blue Devils, who are coming off their first three-game losing streak since 2007. The Blue Devils are looking to prove that their recent slide is a fluke, but the Wolfpack is playing with refound energy and looking to keep its postseason chances alive.
