NC State
13-12, 3-9
Wake Forest
10-15, 1-12
Barber Gets Career-High 38 In Win Over Wake Forest
2/13/2016 2:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RALEIGH - Anthony 'Cat' Barber scored a career-high 38 points and the NC State men's basketball team surged past Wake Forest 99-88 at PNC Arena on Saturday. The victory was State's second in a row at home, two weeks after an 85-69 win over No. 15 Miami.
The Wolfpack (13-12, 3-9) received stellar production from Maverick Rowan (20 points) and Caleb Martin (18 points, 7 rebounds). Both Rowan and Martin scored 13 points in the first half and Mark Gottfried applauded the two wings for making big shots in what was a close game throughout. Wake Forest's Devin Thomas totaled 15 points and 21 rebounds while Codi Miller-McIntyre scored 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting.
Big Cat: Barber scored 30 of his 38 points in the second half, making 17-for-18 at the foul line after halftime. His 17 made fouls shots for the game tied for second all-time in NC State history for a single game. He now owns seven games with 30 or more points and eight for his career.
VIDEO: Barber Scores 38 (via ACCDN)
Offensive Explosion: Led by Barber's career best and the solid games by Caleb Martin and Rowan, NC State tied a season high with 99 points. The Pack also scored 99 earlier this season in a win over Bucknell. Saturday's effort tied the most NC State has scored in a game under Mark Gottfried and was the most in a conference game since Jan. 22, 1992 (99-88 win over UNC-CH at Reynolds Coliseum). The Wolfpack shot exactly 50 percent for the game, including .542 in the second half.
Gott Said It: "I think it's a really nice win for our team. I'm proud of our team because I thought there was a point in the second where Wake Forest went on a run and we had foul trouble and some obstacles we had to overcome and we probably could have dropped our head a little bit and we didn't. Our guys kept competing. They played extremely hard. Obviously, Cat was the difference maker today and he did a tremendous job. I thought we got some big baskets from Maverick, we got some big baskets from Caleb in the first half. Malik had a few that I thought were timely. Great team win for us. Probably not our best defensive game, but we stepped up and made some shots. We got defensive shots late in the game when we had to get them and that was probably the key for us winning the game."
Gott Talkin' About Cat: "It's interesting for me. He's had this stretch, the last five games or so, where they told me he's averaged 33. I'm not sure if that's the correct number. There are times where I'm not sure how many points he has. I know he has a lot. I know he's scoring but he's doing it pretty efficiently. We get in the mode of 'We need a basket this trip'. Whether it's him getting a basket or finding someone else, he really our catalyst, the one who's making it happen for us. I'll sometimes look at the stat sheet and go "Wow! He really did have a terrific game!". You know it but just don't know how much it is sometimes."
ESPN Big Monday: The Wolfpack has a quick turnaround, traveling to No. 7 Virginia Monday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN Big Monday.
