Missouri has no answer to Wolfpack’s Cat Barber, loses to North Carolina State 73-59

Mizzou Arena was as loud as it had been all afternoon — perhaps, all season — in the closing seconds of the first half Saturday after a dunk by junior Russell Woods restored Missouri’s lead.

North Carolina State junior Cat Barber calmly dribbled down the floor and fired in a three-pointer from the left wing that silenced the 8,087 in attendance.

Barber’s buzzer-beating dagger gave the Wolfpack its first lead of the game and capped a 19-point first half personally.

Try as they might, the Tigers never managed to slow down Barber — who paced his team’s 73-59 win with 33 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

It was the exact opposite of Missouri’s best strategy for victory.

“We’re not a team of stars,” Tigers coach Kim Anderson said. “We’ve got to all contribute. We don’t have Cat Barber, so we’ve got to have guys step up and make plays.”

Missouri, 5-5, suffered its first loss at home this season and its ninth straight non-conference loss against Power Five foes.

Barber’s 33 points on nine of 15 shooting are the most the Tigers have allowed since Texas’ J’Covan Brown scored 34 — a Mizzou Arena opponent record — on Jan. 14, 2012.

“He’s a good athlete and he has a mid-range game, which most people don’t have anymore,” freshman guard Cullen VanLeer said. “That’s difficult to guard. When a guy can stop and pull up on a dime, most people don’t know how to guard that and he’s got that pretty much down.”

Down 29-28 at halftime, Missouri briefly took a 31-30 lead on freshman guard Terrence Phillips’ three-pointer less than a minute into the second half.

But the Tigers never led again after Wolfpack sophomore forward Abdul-Malik Abu’s dunk with 18:39 remaining.

N.C. State, 8-3, led by as many as 20 four times in the final 7 minutes.

“We just didn’t come out with the same intensity the second half as we did the first half,” VanLeer said. “We got down and couldn’t fight back.”

The Wolfpack outrebounded the Tigers 25-13 in the second half and went 24 of 30 at the free-throw line, including 20 of 23 after halftime.

“I don’t have a whole lot to say about the game right now …,” Anderson said. “We knew that the key to the game was going to be rebounding. Obviously, in the second half, they took total control of the inside.”

Missouri was a dismal eight of 19 at the line overall, accounting for a massive difference in a game that saw both teams make 22 field goals.

The Tigers actually shot slightly better than the Wolfpack from the field (43.1 percent to 40.7) and made two more three-pointers, including four from VanLeer.

VanLeer led Missouri with 12 points and sophomore Tramaine Isabell added 10, helping provide a 37-7 edge in bench scoring.

The Tigers were crushed by the Wolfpack’s 15 offensive rebounds, including 11 in the second half, which led to a 20-3 edge in second-chance points.

“In all aspects, we need to be more physical and rebound as a team,” said senior Ryan Rosburg, who led Missouri with six boards.

Missouri started strong, scoring nine of the game’s first 11 points.

Phillips — who drew the early assignment against Barber, the ACC’s second-leading scorer — jumped the passing lane for a steal on the Wolfpack’s first possession. That led to an uncontested layup by freshman forward Kevin Puryear, who was limited to four points for the second consecutive game.

Freshman K.J. Walton added another wide-open layup off an inbounds play a few seconds after checking in and Isabell made a three-pointer after Barber got the Wolfpack on the board.

The Tigers’ lead reached 9-2 when Woods found sophomore forward Jakeenan Gant for another uncontested layup.

VanLeer heated up from there, connecting on a couple of three-pointers. His second long-range bomb, which he fired from the right wing as the shot-clock expired, pushed Missouri’s lead to double figures at 19-9 midway through the opening half.

Barber kept N.C. State within shouting distance and finally delivered a lead on the final shot before heading to the locker room.

“Probably midway through the first half, we started playing a little bit better, moved the ball better and got good shots,” said coach Mark Gottfried, who notched his 100th win at N.C. State. “Cat was just terrific again. He’s been spectacular every night for is and did it again today.”

N.C. STATE 73, MISSOURI 59

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .407, FT .800. Three-Point Goals: 5-16, .313 (Rowan 2-3, Barber 2-4, Ca. Martin 1-9). Blocked Shots: 4 (Co. Martin 2, Anya, Abu). Turnovers: 9 (Barber 3, Ca. Martin 2, Anya 2, Abu, team). Steals: 4 (Co. Martin 2, Freeman, Ca. Martin). Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out: None.

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .431, FT .421. Three-Point Goals: 7-17, .412 (VanLeer 4-7, Isabell 1-2, Clark 1-3, Phillips 1-3, Walton 0-1, Wright 0-1). Blocked Shots: 2 (Woods, Gant). Turnovers: 8 (Walton 3, Isabell 2, Rosburg, Phillips, Clark). Steals: 6 (Isabell 2, Wright 2, Gant, Phillips). Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out: None.

Half: N.C. State 29-28. Att: NA. Officials: William Humes, Tim Nestor, Jeffrey Anderson.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Missouri has no answer to Wolfpack’s Cat Barber, loses to North Carolina State 73-59."