State wins 77-70 at Notre Dame [Updated 7:15 am]

13-14 Basketball57

Old MacDonald had a farm.

State improved to 11-4 (1-1) with its win at Purcell Pavilion tonight. Warren led State with 17 points but it was Barber (16 points) who staved off defeat by hitting 7-of-8 free throws over the final 1:44. Lee and Turner each had 12 points and Vandenberg had 11 boards.

NC State improves to 3-0 in road ACC openers under Mark Gottfried and evens the all-time series against the Irish at four to four.

ESPN supplies this boxscore and also included Cat Barber’s halftime buzzer beater as #6 on their list of Top 10 plays.

BTP added,

In the final minute, that single possession was the difference between Notre Dame fouling and a total crapshoot ending. I found Mike Brey’s decision to foul twice in a three-point game with between 50 and 42 seconds remaining odd, but I can’t totally blame him for putting this Wolfpack team on the line even if good defense and a stop would have given his club sufficient time to get down the floor and hoist a potential game-tying three.

It worked out poorly for Brey in this case, as first Warren knocked down a pair to give State a 71-66 lead, and then Barber followed an Irish layup with a pair of his own. That was an enormous sequence for the Pack. Sometimes things just work out.

The road win at South Bend puts NC State back in the ‘way too early but fun to have’ NCAA Tournament bubble conversation with a current RPI in the low 60s. Don’t forget that two of State’s losses – including our ‘worst loss’ of the year vs RPI #95 North Carolina Central – happened with our starting center injured and unable to play. So, State’s home game against Virginia (RPI #43) at 5pm on Saturday now looms TREMENDOUS for this team’s prospects for the season.

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13-14 Basketball

Home › Forums › State wins 77-70 at Notre Dame

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  • 01/07/2014 at 11:18 PM #36212
    StateFans
    Keymaster

    State improved to 11-4 (1-1) with its win at Purcell Pavilion tonight. Warren led State with 17 points but it was Barber (16 points) who staved off de
    [See the full post at: State wins 77-70 at Notre Dame]

    01/07/2014 at 11:52 PM #36218
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    Call it anyway ya see it, but stars of the game go to Gott’s cojones by yanking the point guard at just the right time, and handing the reins over to the future “transfer ” kid.

    01/07/2014 at 11:59 PM #36220
    choppack1
    Participant

    Huge win…will pay dividends for RPI.

    01/08/2014 at 12:16 AM #36221
    eas
    Participant

    Glad we pulled it out. I still think WBS had a solid game and does a better job in the 1/2 court offense than Cat does. wBS just can’t shoot. We also did a great job feeding the bigs in the 1st half.

    01/08/2014 at 12:20 AM #36222
    Prowling Woofie
    Participant

    Lewis definitely provided needed balance and stability tonight, and the press worked wonders… BIG improvement from Saturday.

    01/08/2014 at 12:40 AM #36223
    bill.onthebeach
    Participant

    ^^^What Mr. Dog said….

    plus

    1. Bigs played Big…
    2. No panic or quit last five minutes…
    3. Made some free throws…
    4. Big improvement in half court offense… up to a success rate of about 40% now…

    and most importantly….

    40 minutes of solid team ball…. that little stretch where we gave back the ten point lead — not withstanding.

    NOW…Anthony…. what we GOTT to have is NO MORE one on three, one on four and one on five….
    Keep that up… and I guarantee you’ll sitting in the best seat in the house
    (that’s the DogHouse… you know) more than you like.

    And Anthony…. if you want to know more about the DogHouse …. ask CALVIN….

    #NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!
    01/08/2014 at 3:12 AM #36224
    wufpup76
    Keymaster

    ^I don’t quite agree w/ the doghouse – Barber does so many other things well, not the least of which is his (on ball) defense. For a program that has struggled so badly with defense under Lowe and for large parts of the Gottfried reign, we can’t afford to sit someone with Barber’s prowess for very long.

    I think Gottfried is doing pretty good w/ respect to Barber. He’s young and has a lot to learn about offensive flow – but rather than bench him for the remainder of the game we gave Lee some looks up top. It’s a learning process – thank goodness we have Lewis to be able to come in.

    After tonight, I have confidence it will get better.

    01/08/2014 at 6:13 AM #36225
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    It seems like the bench time did help Cat get his mind right – he was an absolute terror the last two minutes.

    01/08/2014 at 7:15 AM #36229
    choppack1
    Participant

    Cowdog – that is a very astute observation. If I recall correctly, we had just seen our lead reduced and cat had taken a couple ill-advised shots. Putting lewis in the game showed confidence in lewis and showed who was really in charge.

    Lewis settled down the team…. when cat came back in he was composed and rested. Win-win-win.

    01/08/2014 at 7:59 AM #36231
    bill.onthebeach
    Participant

    Mr. Dog… On what page in your Pop’s basketball playbook did he say….

    “Thou shalt NOT drive the ball all the way from the top of the key to the rim against a zone defense.”

    and….

    “Thou shalt NOT stand around on offense.” ???

    #NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!
    01/08/2014 at 8:16 AM #36232
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    Cat is good at driving/penetrating. But he is too predictable. He needs to draw and dish more, or even better…let loose with the pull up jumper (which he’s actually quite good at, just doesn’t do it a lot).

    01/08/2014 at 8:27 AM #36234
    Pack Leader
    Participant

    Great win last night, free throws were the key. I was happy Washington got more mintues, he earned them over the last few games. I thought Barber was great, even through his little spell of turnovers. I agree with BJD, I wish he would keep his man honest using a nice 15′ jumper now & again. Freshman PGs will ALWAYS be inconsistant, but I like how Gott handled the ‘benching’ (considering he saved us at the end of the game, I dont really consider him benched).

    BIG game at home Saturday vs Virginia. BIG.

    01/08/2014 at 8:30 AM #36236
    PoppaJohn
    Participant

    Other than that period during the second half when we came down and took 3-4 consecutive three pointers, I thought our offense was really good. Defensively, I thought this was one of Gott’s better games. The 3/4 court pressure made a real difference.

    Cat will be fine. You have to remember that for the previous four years, he’s probably been able to go to the basket anytime he wanted to. And Gott is telling him to drive at every opportunity. He just needs to improve his judgement on when those opportunities are there. He’ll get there. He also needs to develop that little two man game to help the bigs get shots.

    Love the breakdown of minutes, everyone got double digits and everyone scored.

    I was proud to be a Wolfpacker tonight.

    01/08/2014 at 8:36 AM #36237
    Fastback68
    Participant

    UVA gives me night terrors because they remind me of our decade with the “wood chopper”. State, throw an old boy a Virginia ham and win comfortably the last five minutes. Go Pack!

    01/08/2014 at 8:37 AM #36238
    Texpack
    Participant

    I remember thinking at the time that we were building the lead back up a bit with Lewis on the floor. Cat was just as good down the stretch after watching, as he was bad down the stretch against MIZZOU. It’s only a data point right now, hopefully it will become a trend after 3-4 more games.

    When the guards learn how to run this offense and they have Anya, Washington and Freeman to work with on the interior we are going to be very, very, good.

    01/08/2014 at 9:01 AM #36239
    lush
    Participant

    WBS is in a slump for sure, but he scored 50 points in a pro am game this summer. Even if he was open all game, that is impressive.

    he can score but not until he shakes this mental funk.

    01/08/2014 at 9:11 AM #36242
    Tau837
    Participant

    Enjoyable game with many positives. In particular, I loved the 3/4 court pressure. I cannot recall a time Gott has pulled that out before early in a game. Am I forgetting another game he has done that?

    Also, it was great to see the entire 9 man rotation contribute to the win. I liked Gott’s substituting and distribution of minutes in this game. If we can just bring this kind of team effort to each game, we have a shot at a nice season.

    The main thing I’d like to see more of is low post offense. It seems our team almost never feeds a post player other than on the high post or an alley oop. Washington and Freeman have had some success shooting/attacking from the high post, which is great, but I don’t understand why we aren’t at least occasionally trying some low post offense.

    I was also thinking it might have helped shake Warren loose a bit to play him at the 4 a bit last night, and let him be the guy flashing to the high post rather than Freeman/Washington.

    01/08/2014 at 9:14 AM #36243
    FergusWolf
    Participant

    I’m with Poppa John, I think the “soft press” made a world of difference. Sure, ND made a couple of easy layups on the deal, but for the most part it made ND uncomfortable and ate into their shot clock.

    When the announcers kept remarking about buckets quiet game, they never did notice that he was one of the keys in the “soft press”.

    Personally, I thought the substitution pattern for the PG position worked very well. Cat is a great player and will only get better, but giving him the opportunity to watch, rest, and think while WBS was running the show. I also enjoyed seeing Des (hey, he doesn’t have a nickname…no fair) at point for a short period, giving Cat the freedom to roam.

    Unfortunately, my Christmas wish of a 2nd 3pt threat wasn’t answered by the fat man. BSW is shooting 43%, but next in line (for the people actually seeing minutes) is Cat at 31% (WBS is shooting a woeful 14%, imagine how much more playing time he might get if he was shooting 40%?)

    Can’t say I’m looking forward to watching VA slow the game down to a dirge on Saturday, but I think it’s a winnable game…as long as we don’t go up big.

    01/08/2014 at 9:43 AM #36245
    JohnGalt78
    Participant

    Loved the soft press. Not so much an harrassing press as an annoying one. Really never let them get in a groove. Wish Washington would add a bit of arc to his mini hook…he really line drives the ball straight at the rim with a small margin of error. GREAT team win.

    01/08/2014 at 9:52 AM #36247
    PoppaJohn
    Participant

    Tyler scored 50 points in a game this summer????? Whoa! That really changes the way I look at him. If he could score 6-8 a game, what a difference that would make. Otherwise, I think his game is very solid.

    01/08/2014 at 9:55 AM #36248
    PoppaJohn
    Participant

    “…but I think it’s a winnable game…as long as we don’t go up big.”

    LOL!! Sad, but true.

    01/08/2014 at 10:04 AM #36249
    Daniel_Simpson_Day
    Participant

    Some may not agree but a road win @ ND more than makes up for a home loss to Pitt. As BJD alluded to, we probably caught ND at the best time, but any road conference win is far more valuable than a home loss to a team that isn’t a big rival (if you can set aside losing the big lead vs Pitt). For a team that will likely finish somewhere in the middle of the conference, road wins are a premium; could be the difference between finishing 10-8 or 8-10.

    01/08/2014 at 10:16 AM #36250
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    Really solid win that could go a long way. Was impressed with both PGs. Cat is a player.

    01/08/2014 at 10:20 AM #36251
    Whiteshoes67
    Participant

    Good win. Ball movement was really good for most of the game. I liked the little full or three-quarter court trap wrinkle. Not convinced that Notre Dame is anything but a bubble team. They have some really good wins but also some bad losses. Very unpredictable.

    Also not sure whey some are applauding the second half substitution patterns. We looked bad on offense and defense for a good part of the stretch that Barber and Lee were out.

    01/08/2014 at 10:58 AM #36254
    redcanine
    Participant

    Great Win!

    Nobody on the team played poorly. Coach had it together too. Good stuff.

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