NC State 79, IUPUI 56: Cat Barber scores 19 as Wolfpack handles pesky Jaguars

NC State got double-digit scoring from four players, including Cat Barber, who scored a game-high 19, and the Wolfpack ran away to an easy 79-56 victory over IUPUI. Caleb Martin and Maverick Rowan scored 15 apiece, while Malik Abu added 14.

The Wolfpack made this contest pretty straightforward from start to finish, though it wasn't without some frustratingly stagnant periods. We're still seeing a group that has a tendency to ignore the offense for the sake of ill-advised pull-up jump shots, and State also missed a whole heck of a lot of free throws during the first half.

Those are persistent problems, and against somebody else, maybe they might have mattered. But IUPUI was obviously out-manned, and even though the Jaguars shot well from outside during the first half, they never really made a serious issue of things. Turnovers, along with a deep, deep foul deficit prevented them from making a substantial run even when the Wolfpack provided them the opportunity.

NC State could have been up by a lot more than 11 at halftime; IUPUI also could have been much closer. The missed opportunities for the Jags proved fatal as State's talent edge pushed the game's margin into blowout territory during the second half.

The Pack was a bit better at the line after a dreadful start, and Cat Barber was more aggressive offensively, which is really where it all is going to start for this team this season.

It helped also that NC State was dominant on the glass while finishing +2 in the turnover category. IUPUI leading scorer Darell Combs finished 1-11 from the field, while veteran Marcellus Barksdale was a no-show. The Jags got a great scoring performance from Matt O'Leary, but that's the only performance on the IUPUI side worth mentioning. Tough to be competitive under those circumstances.

NC State improves to 2-1 on the season, and will travel to Brooklyn for a couple of games early next week, beginning with a game Monday night against Arizona State.