Junior guard Anthony “Cat” Barber notched his first career double-double, and the NC State men’s basketball team rebounded after its season-opening loss to William & Mary, defeating South Alabama 88-70 at PNC Arena Sunday night.
The Wolfpack (1-1) desperately needed a win and got one as the visiting Jaguars (1-1) presented little to no challenges for head coach Mark Gottfried and company.
“I think we were obviously a little bit better than a couple nights ago,” Gottfried said. “We’ve got such a long way to go, but tonight we took a step forward.”
The Wolfpack jumped out to a 9-0 lead early in the first half. Starting in place of injured junior guard Terry Henderson, freshman Maverick Rowan showed poise and touch, scoring nine points on 3-of-6 shooting.
Barber’s shooting woes carried over from Friday night’s game. He shot a paltry 2-for-7 from the field while scoring eight points and committing three turnovers.
With Barber cold from the field, sophomore Caleb Martin stepped up, and his hot hand got even hotter for the Wolfpack. Martin put up nine points in the first half, making three of his first four shots, including two from beyond the arc.
“I just feel like I’m comfortable,” Martin said. “Coach is allowing me go around and get through the offense and find ways to score.”
Sophomore forward Abdul-Malik Abu scored four points and grabbed three rebounds for the Wolfpack. However, he did pick up three fouls in the half and sat out most of the half as a result.
“He’s such a sweetheart, a sweetheart kid,” Gottfried said of Abu. “We’ve got to get him a little tougher and a little more fire all the time. He’s got such great talent and ability. I’ve got to find a way to get him to a high level all the time.”
Defensively, the Pack was a bit more sound Sunday night than in the season opener. State let the Jaguars hang around in the first half, as the Pack’s largest lead was only nine points. The Jaguars’ bench came up huge in the half, contributing 26 compared to the Wolfpack’s five.
Going into the break, the Wolfpack led the Jaguars 40-34. Martin and Rowan led the Pack in scoring with nine points apiece. Senior guard John Brown led South Alabama, scoring eight points in the half.
The Wolfpack pulled away from the Jaguars in the second half and kept a sizable lead for the remainder of the game while playing much better basketball.
“Today we were much more focused,” Martin said. “Ready and determined to just to come out and just play hard.”
Barber played significantly better in the second half, as he committed fewer mistakes and passed with increased accuracy. Barber finished the night with 17 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, falling just two short of a triple-double.
“I’ve had triple-doubles before,” Barber said. “But this one was big for me, I wanted to get this one.”
Martin led the Pack in scoring, finishing with 19 points off of 7-for-10 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. Rowan and Abu had 15 and 14 respectively, shooting a combined 10-for-19 from the floor.
“The point of emphasis for us was learning how to stay with your offense,” Gottfried said. “Whether you’re up 20, down 20 it doesn’t matter. Our team needs to learn how to be committed to really execute what we’re trying to run and get each other the best shots possible.”
The Wolfpack had four players score in double figures while shooting 51 percent from the floor.
“We definitely ran our offense a lot better,” Martin said. “We looked for different options and tried to get it to the high post a lot more to take advantage of those mismatches down low with [Abu] and [BeeJay Anya].”
Taishaun Johnson led the way for the Jaguars with 18 points, followed by Barrington Stevens and Brown, who each had 10 points.
The Wolfpack looks to crawl over the .500 mark for the first time this season when it returns to action Wednesday night at PNC Arena against IUPUI.
