NC State 77, Clemson 74: Cat Barber struggles, but Wolfpack supporting cast shines in win

That was a strange one, but hey, whatever works. Cat Barber struggled all afternoon from the field, missing a number of shots he normally makes look easy. Clemson went on an incredible hot-shooting streak in the first half, and committed exactly one turnover the entire game. But the Wolfpack's supporting cast was tremendous, and State pulled out a 77-74 win.

Four Factors	NC State	Clemson
eFG%	54.2	50.8
Turnover Rate	16.4	1.6
Off Reb Rate	44.4	27.0
FT Rate	26.7	18.8

	Pts	Poss	OFF_EFF	DEF_EFF
Clemson	74	61	121.3	126.2
NC State	77	61	126.2	121.3

While Barber hit only one of 12 field goal attempts, State got big games from Abdul-Malik Abu, Maverick Rowan, and the Martin twins. BeeJay Anya scored eight points on 4-5 shooting, and most of those buckets were dunks. Abu slammed home a few as well.

That was a big part of the story for NC State--rebounding in general, but also throwing home rebounds off of missed shots. Clemson did a poor job boxing out all afternoon, and it was hugely costly. Cat Barber wasn't making shots, but several of his misses were quickly grabbed by State's forwards and dunked for an easy two points. That helped mitigate some of Barber's struggles.

The first half was back-and-forth, and the second half was mostly the same, though State was able to create some breathing room thanks to hot shooting from Rowan and the continued solid play from the forwards. In the first half, Caleb Martin's outside shooting kept the Wolfpack's offense from sputtering. In the second, it was Rowan's hot streak that started to turn the game.

Rowan finished with a team-high 20 points, while Abu scored 17 and grabbed 16 boards. Caleb added 16 points on 6-10 shooting, and Cody scored seven while grabbing four boards. Enough can't be said about the cast around Cat today. For once this year, Cat needed the bailout, and they got this done.

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