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Pitt falls in 2nd round of ACC tournament

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Anthony “Cat” Barber scored a career-high 34 points to help North Carolina State beat Pitt 81-70 Wednesday in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Trevor Lacey added 21 points for the seventh-seeded Wolfpack (20-12), who reached the 20-win mark for the fourth time in as many seasons under Mark Gottfried.

As it has all season, the playmaking backcourt led N.C. State and caused headaches for the 10th-seeded Panthers, whether it was Barber going wherever he wanted with the ball or Lacey knocking in tough shot after tough shot.

N.C. State shot 53 percent to earn its second double-digit victory this season against Pitt (19-14), a win that will only help an already-solid looking NCAA tournament resume that includes wins against Duke, Louisville and North Carolina.

Now the Wolfpack gets another shot against the No. 2 Blue Devils in the quarterfinals.

As for Pitt, it was exactly what Jamie Dixon’s Panthers didn’t need for their shaky NCAA prospects – a quick exit from Greensboro.

The Panthers have wins against Notre Dame and North Carolina, but they went just 8-10 in league regular-season play, entered the day ranked No. 68 in the RPI and needed a good showing here to help their cause.

But Pitt couldn’t stop Barber or Lacey.

Barber had 21 by halftime – just two fewer than the Panthers’ team total – and finished 9-for-13 from the field and 4-for-5 from 3-point range while making all 12 of his free throws.

He put on a show all night, one that got better after Pitt had made its best push to get within eight with about 2½ minutes left.

Barber first drove into the paint and hitting a hanging layup while drawing a foul for a three-point play, then drove again to set up Lennard Freeman for a layup and another three-point play.

He finished with one more blow-by drive for a layup, pushing the lead to 78-64 with 1:07 left.

Lacey went 8-for-14 from the field, showing off his season-long knack of knocking down tough contested shots. That included a three-possession flurry midway through the second half when he threw an alley-oop pass to Abdul-Malik Abu, knocked down a high-arcing 3-pointer then hit a tough stepback jumper to increase N.C. State’s lead to 57-43 with 9:19 left.

Cameron Wright scored 19 points to lead Pitt, which shot 47 percent and went 7-for-14 from behind the arc after halftime. But after trailing 37-23 at the break, the Panthers just never managed to seriously cut into the Wolfpack’s margin.

Pittsburgh: Michael Young and Chris Jones each added 13 points … Pitt finished with a 33-29 rebounding advantage. … Pitt made the semifinals last year in its first ACC tournament.

N.C. State: Ralston Turner struggled with four points, going just 2-for-9 from the field and missing all five of his 3-pointers. … Freeman finished with nine points, while BeeJay Anya added seven.

Pittsburgh is waiting to find out its postseason fate.

N.C. State will play No. 2 Duke in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

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