NC State
9-3
UNC-Greensboro
4-8
NC State Defeats UNCG 58-52
12/22/2015 8:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Box Score | Coach Gottfried Quotes | Visitor Quotes
RALEIGH – The NC State men's basketball team prevailed over UNC Greensboro 58-52 Tuesday night inside PNC Arena. Both teams struggled to score throughout the contest, but the Wolfpack pulled away from the Spartans late in the second half to seal the victory for its fifth straight win.Key Stats: Anthony 'Cat' Barber, the ACC's leading scorer, led the way for the Wolfpack with a game-high 27 points on a 10-of-18 shooting performance. Abdul-Malik Abu earned his second-straight double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while BeeJay Anya also had a strong game with 10 points, six rebounds and four blocks.
Barber also reached a career milestone, scoring his 1,000th career point. Entering the contest, Barber needed 25 points to reach the mark. The junior now has 1,002 career points. He reached the mark on a jumper in the lane with 50 seconds on the clock. He added points 1,001 and 1,002 on a pair of free throws with 14 seconds to go.
Photos from NC State's win on Tuesday night
Posted by NC State Basketball on Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Turning Point: After UNCG cut the lead to to 50-49 with with 2:33 left in game, NC State closed the game on an 8-3 run, forcing three missed shots and two turnovers on UNC Greensboro's final possessions.
Caleb Martin drilled a 3-pointer with 2:20 left in the game before Barber added a jumper in the lane to give NC State a six-point lead with 50 seconds remaining.
After the Spartans pulled within three, Barber drew a foul and sank both free throws to push the lead back toa two-possession game with 14 seconds remaining.Gott Said It: "First of all, we're always excited to win. I don't think we played very well offensively and I thought we were good defensively for about 34-35 minutes tonight. When we got up by 12 that's when we took our foot off of the gas pedal and let them get back in the game. We were struggling offensively tonight; couldn't make shots, missed two dunk, missed a lot of foul shots, had open shots. On nights like this where we are not playing offense well we've got to be great on defense from start to finish. I thought we played defense well for most of the game but we had some mental lapses that hurt us."
Up Next: NC State will be back in action Tuesday, Dec. 29 as its concludes its non-conference portion of the season against Northeastern. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. inside PNC Arena. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports South and other regional sports affiliates.
