NC State
Florida State
Wolfpack Starts February With Rematch At Florida State
1/31/2016 10:41:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| NC State (12-10, 2-7) at Florida State (14-7, 4-5) | ||
| Date | Monday, Feb. 1 | |
| Time | 9 p.m. ET | |
| Location | Donald Tucker Center – Tallahassee, Fla. | |
| Tickets | StubHub | |
| Television | ESPNU (Mike Patrick, LaPhonso Ellis) | |
| Radio | Wolfpack Sports Network (Gary Hahn, Tony Haynes) | |
| Game Notes | NC State | Florida State | |
| Season Statistics | NC State | Florida State | |
| Live Stats | Seminoles.com | |
| Social Media | @PackMensBball | Facebook | |
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THE STARTING 5Â -Â The Top 5 Storylines For This Game
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1. THE BIG CAT
Cat Barber is having a season that would rank among the all-time great performances in school and ACC history. Barber is leading the ACC in scoring with 23.1 points per game while also leading the conference in free throws made (157) and minutes per game (38.5). He's fourth in both assists (4.6) and free throw percentage (.872). Saturday's 30-point effort vs. Miami was his ACC-best fifth game this season with 30+ points. Should his current averages hold, Barber would become the second player in ACC history to average 23 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 4.6 apg (Kenny Anderson in 1990). Over the last four games, Barber is averaging 29.0 points and 4.5 assists while shooting .506 from the floor, .462 from 3-point range and 32-for-32 at the foul line.Â
VIDEO: Barber's Best Plays In Win Over Miami (ACCDN)
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2. ROUND 2 vs. THE SEMINOLESÂ Â
NC State scored 50 points in the second half and rallied late but Florida State edged the Wolfpack 85-78 back on Jan. 13 at PNC Arena. Maverick Rowan scored 22 points (18 in the second half) and Abdul-Malik Abu added 21 points and 13 rebounds for NC State, which grabbed 20 offensive rebounds against the Seminoles. FSU did manage to contain Cat Barber, as the star point guard scored 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting. FSU was led by Malik Beasley (22 points) and Devon Bookert (18 points).Â
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3. QUALITY OPPONENT EVERY NIGHT
Florida State will be NC State's ninth straight opponent ranked in the top 75 of the ESPN.com Daily RPI. In ACC play, only Virginia Tech (117) didn't reach that ranking. The Wolfpack now owns wins over Miami (17) and Pittsburgh (31) in 11 contests against top 75 RPI teams. The Wolfpack also has a neutral-court win over No. 80 RPI LSU.
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4. HEATING UP LATEÂ
NC State shot better than 58 percent during the second half of Saturday's win over Miami, continuing a trend where the Wolfpack thrives after halftime. The Wolfpack averages 40.1 points on .446 shooting during the second halves of games this season, up from 34.0 points on .407 before haltime. NC State shotts .350 from 3-point range and .710 at the foul line in the second half compared to .322 and .668 mark in the first halves of games this season. Additionally, several late flurries have seen the Wolfpack catch fire late in games. For the year, Maverick Rowan is shooting 14-for-28 from 3-point range in the last five minutes of each game. Abdul-Malik Abu shoots 60 percent in the games' final five minutes this season.
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5. BEATING TEAMS IN THE NATIONAL POLLSÂ Â
Mark Gottfried's team owns three victories this season over teams who were ranked nationally at the time of the game, with all coming by double digits. In November, NC State defeated then-No. 22 LSU in the Barclays Center 83-72. Behind 31 points from Cat Barber, NC State went to Pittsburgh and beat a Pitt team ranked 20th in the coaches poll 78-61. Saturday's 85-69 win over No. 15/13 Miami was the third win over a ranked team and the Pack's first such victory at PNC Arena. Gottfried has coached the Wolfpack to 11 victories against teams ranked at the time of the game.
