Barber helps NC State beat No. 22 LSU 83-72 in OT

NEW YORK -- North Carolina State had a two-part plan Tuesday night: clog the lane defensively against star freshman Ben Simmons and get a win.

The Wolfpack succeeded at both.

Anthony "Cat" Barber scored 12 of his 20 points at the foul line and the Wolfpack held Simmons to four points in an 83-72 overtime victory over No. 22 LSU in the consolation game of the Legends Classic.

Simmons became the eighth LSU player in the last 42 years to get 20 points and 20 rebounds Monday against Marquette but with N.C. State constantly crowding the paint, he turned into more of a passer than a shooter. Simmons had 10 assists and 14 rebounds before fouling out early in overtime.

"Our plan was to really crowd the lane, flood the lane, put everybody basically the sink and clog it up and not let him going with his penetration," N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. "What happened was, he's so tall, he's such a great passer, a lot of times he skipped it to the corners and they made some 3s.

"It's almost like you got to pick your poison a little bit, but we were willing to try and eliminate him with his driving lanes and feed the paint and everybody collectively clog it up as best we could and try to contest some of those 3s."

Simmons missed his first five shots against the Wolfpack's defense before hitting a layup to tie it at 65 with 38 seconds left. He missed a chance to give LSU the lead by missing a free throw and the Wolfpack controlled overtime.

"We always have motivation before every game," N.C. State sophomore Caleb Martin said. "Of course you got a potential No. 1 draft pick next year on the other side. There's a lot of matchups that we're all looking forward to playing against."

They never trailed after Abdul-Malik Abu scored on the first possession of overtime though the next few minutes were not easy.

LSU was within 73-72 on a 3-pointer by Brandon Sampson with 1:50 remaining but Cody Martin drove for a score to push the lead to three. After Tim Quarterman missed a layup, Maverick Rowan converted a layup with 38 seconds remaining to ice it.

In all, five players reached double figures for the Wolfpack, who led by 12 early in the second half.

With Simmons getting clogged in the lane, LSU's backcourt led the offense. Quarterman scored 19 points while Brandon Sampson came off the bench for 18.

"I think that's what probably people have to learn to appreciate being that he has the ability to impact the game in a lot of different ways," LSU coach Johnny Jones said. "Every night he's not going to come out and score, a lot of people are going to devise maybe to try and take him away."

TIP-INS

LSU: Sampson, a freshman, came off the bench for the first time after shooting 32.4 percent (12 of 37) in his first four games. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Jalyn Patterson, who had shot 21 percent (6 of 17) in the first four games. ... Quarterman needs two assists to become the 31st player to reach 200 assists in school history.

N.C. State: Tuesday was a rematch of last year's NCAA second round tournament game, which the Wolfpack won by a 66-65 margin on BeeJay Anya's last-second shot. ... Caleb Martin was shaken up briefly with about six minutes remaining in the first half when he took an elbow to the face by LSU center Elbert Robinson III. Martin stayed in the game and hit a 3-pointer a few possessions later, finishing with 16 points.

PHENOMENAL BARBER

Barber had a trip to remember to New York as he scored 42 points and made 24 of 26 free throws in the two games. Barber played 43 minutes Tuesday and also had seven rebounds with seven assists a night after playing 37 minutes -- a performance Gottfried described as "phenomenal."

UP NEXT

LSU travels to Charleston on Monday

N.C. State hosts Winthrop on Friday