NC State officially opened their season on Sunday night with an exhibition win against Cal State Los Angeles with a final score of 71-54. It was a fairly typical performance for a game with such little implications, with the coaching staff trying out different squads on the floor at a time.
The most obvious takeaway from this matchup is that this is Cat Barber's team. While Malik Abu was the definite focal point inside, Barber controlled the entire game with 21 points, 6 assists, and just the solo turnover. The best sign was the Barber didn't do all of this in transition, but operated mostly in the half court offense, a situation he has improved in immensely.
Speaking of Abu, he was the man in the middle for the Pack, finishing with 17 points and 9 rebounds. It was clear that State was focused on feeding him inside and looking for him on cuts to the basket for easy dunks. Going forward, they look like they will ride him offensively as the second option.
In other places, the results were not as good, which is somewhat expected if you are familiar with the makeup of the roster. Junior transfer Terry Henderson is expected to be the second or third option, but he struggled on the night with just 5 points and no real threat from outside the arc. Chances are that this was a one-off, but having Henderson as a consistent three point threat is a need going forward.
Lennard Freeman was productive in his short time on the court with 6 points and 5, but his foul trouble was the reason for the short period on the floor. Abu, Freeman, and Beejay Anya are the only true post players on the floor, so they must stay out of foul trouble. Anya struggled offensively, going 0-5 from the line, but added 3 blocks. The Martin twins were solid but not spectacular, but will see time due to their defense and tenacity. Cody Martin was the primary ball handler when Barber was out of the game. True freshman Maverick Rowan took quite a few shots during his time, hitting two tough threes but struggling otherwise. Shaun Kirk did not get a chance to show much after an early three pointer.
Overall, we learned how the team will run, but the competition was not of a caliber to draw many solid conclusions this early.
