Trevor Lacey and Cat Barber were very impressive Friday night, leading the Wolfpack to a 93-58 victory. But, the real story was how the entire team contributed and exerted effort in all facets of the game — State’s defense and commitment to rebounding created offense while never opening the door for JSU.
Cat Barber and Trevor Lacey combine to go 15-23 for 47 points in NC State's rout over Jackson St. Could be one of ACC's best back courts.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 15, 2014
PSSST! There are a few items linked here that might be interesting to you — including Doris Burke talking about “boner shots” on national television.
Here is a recap from Friday:
The 6-foot-3, 213-pound combo guard scored 20 points in the first half and made three 3-pointers. Lacey and Barber combined for 36 points in the first half. As a team, N.C. State shot 58.6 percent from the floor and made 5 of 10 3-pointers to take a commanding 47-26 halftime lead.
Barber played with the confidence and poise Gottfried had hoped would come with an increased role and a year of maturity. Barber was stronger with the ball and smart with his shot selection.
What Barber did Friday night he only showed flashes of last season as a freshman when he split point guard duties with Tyler Lewis, who has since transferred to Butler. Barber’s speed with the ball and quickness were known quantities for Wolfpack fans. Lacey’s skill set was more of a mystery to most people this side of Gottfried.
Lacey averaged 11.3 points for Alabama in 2012-13 and led the team in assists (3.2 per game) and 3-pointers (62) but he sat out last season. He showed some rust in N.C. State’s only public preseason game last Saturday against Division II Queens but that was all gone by Friday night.
Lacey made seven of his first eight shots (after missing his first seven against Queens). He showed an ability to get to the basket but also hit from range. Perhaps most importantly for Gottfried, he showed a quick chemistry with Barber.
With N.C. State breaking off a game-turning 21-3 run, Barber hit Lacey on a cross-court pass in transition and then Lacey dropped the ball to sophomore forward Kyle Washington, who was fouled but made both free throws to give the Wolfpack a 34-13 lead at 4:29 in the first half.
That was in the middle of a Barber-Lacey flurry of plays. Lacey tipped a pass from the defensive end of the floor ahead to himself for a dunk. Then Barber followed with a 3-pointer and finally Barber had a steal and then a dish to Lacey for an easy basket.
More N.C. State players got into the act in the second half, a show of the Wolfpack’s depth. Washington added seven points and a game-high nine rebounds and senior guard Desmond Lee had nine points in 15 minutes.
“It’s a good start,” Gottfried said. “We’ll get better, but good start.”
Here is another take for you:
Junior guard Trevor Lacey scored 20 first-half points and sophomore point guard Cat Barber totaled a career-high 25 points and six assists to lead NC State past Jackson State 93-58 in the season opener for both teams.
The victory improved N.C. State to 58-4 in season openers since joining the ACC in 1953. The Pack has not dropped its first game in a campaign since 1993.
The Wolfpack jumped out to an early double-digit lead when Caleb Martin hit a jumper with 12:44 remaining in the half. N.C. State continued to increase its advantage throughout the half. A free throw by Lacey increased the Pack’s lead to 20 with less than six minutes to go before the break. Jackson State would not cut the deficit to less than 20 points for the remainder of the game.
The Tigers were held to 28.1 percent shooting from the floor (18-for-64), the lowest by an opponent since Northwestern shoot 25 percent versus the Pack last season.
[snip]
Barber finished with a career-best 25 points on 7-for-13 shooting (3-for-5 from three-point range) along with six assists, six rebounds and two turnovers. He did not commit a turnover in 29 minutes of action.
Lacey added 22 points, one short of his career-high set while at Alabama. The transfer was 8-for-10 from the floor in his debut with N.C. State and also finished 3-for-5 from behind the three-point arc in just 23 minutes of action.“Obviously, I thought Trevor and Cat really got a lot of things going offensively,” N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried said. “They both played well. They kind of feed off one-another, penetrate and pitch. Those guys are point guards at heart.
If you are interested in checking out any other ACC games from Friday then you can scroll down on the right side of the page and play some highlights in the ACC Digital player.
State hosts a solid Hofstra team at 7pm on Monday night in the PNC (and on ESPN3).
Hofstra's Brian Bernardi could emerge as one of nation's best 3-point shooters — was 6-8 from deep in 26 mins on Friday. Had 22 points.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 15, 2014
