PITTSBURGH -- The NC State Wolfpack spent from Dec. 12 to Jan. 22 exchanging a win for a loss, and then, not content to just ride a roller coaster, unhinged themselves from the tracks, losing five of six from Jan. 22 to Feb. 11.
So to call the Wolfpack’s arrival in the Sweet 16 unexpected would be inaccurate. It was flat-out unforeseeable. A team that beat Duke and North Carolina, loaded with a talented backcourt and a solid frontcourt, certainly always was capable of getting to the regional semifinal. But a team that also lost to Clemson was equally capable of going home after one game.
Yet after barely escaping on the first night, winning on a hot potato/no-you-take-it hook shot buzzer-beater against LSU, here are the Wolfpack -- not merely winners, but 71-68 dispatchers of top-seeded Villanova.
“Really proud of our guys,’’ Mark Gottfried said. “They’ve come a long way. They’ve gotten better. They’ve improved. They’ve got to remember, we were picked 10th in our league, so they’ve done a phenomenal job and I don’t think they’re done yet.’’
Star of the weekend: Cat Barber. The big men came up, well, big against both LSU and Villanova, first working to keep the athletic Tigers in check and then all but exposing the Wildcats’ less potent interior, but the point guard stole the show. He had 30 points in the two games combined, and more critical, just five turnovers in 69 minutes of play. In order to beat Villanova, the Wolfpack backcourt needed to match the firepower and speed of the Wildcats and with Barber leading the way, they did exactly that.
The big moment in Pittsburgh: With Villanova charging behind two late Darrun Hilliard 3-pointers, a Wolfpack collapse seemed destined when Trevor Lacey overthrew Desmond Lee on an inbounds pass with 36.8 seconds to play. Villanova worked the ball and the clock, finding an open Dylan Ennis beyond the arc. But Ennis’ shot missed, Barber pulled down the rebound and, with 14.6 seconds left, sunk two free throws to make it a two-possession game and essentially seal the win.
What’s next? NC State returns to the Sweet 16 for the second time in four years, hot off another Gottfried-fueled upset of a 1-seed. The coach did the same while in charge at Alabama, knocking off Stanford in 2004.
NC State will play Louisville in Syracuse on Friday. The Wolfpack faced the Cardinals during ACC play, winning on the road 74-65.