NC State coach Kevin Keatts did his post-game radio segment after the Purdue loss with the Wolfpack Radio Network.
Here is a transcript of what Keatts had to say:
What are your initial thoughts?
“Well, I thought we did some really good things. I thought if you look at the two halves, I thought early on we didn't get back in transition. Obviously, they jumped off to a nice lead. We fought, we caught the lead.
“I thought in the second half they did a good job of going inside and obviously playing through their big guy [Trey Kaufman-Renn], who got in foul trouble. We did some good things. When you look at it, I think the difference in the game is we got out-rebounded by 10. We got to do a better job as a group rebounding the basketball.
“They got to the free-throw line a lot more than us [26 attempts to 15]. That's a difference in the game and we got to do better with that part of it.”
You didn’t play your best in the first half, but were right there. Is that how you saw it?
“Yeah, I thought in the second half we got a little extended defensively and we gave up some easy shots. I didn't think our help shot defense was very good. All things that we can work on, all things that we can get better. We played against a very good Purdue team and was right there. Obviously, we got to clean up some things and move forward.”
How do you feel some of the new guys did and what did they learn?
“Well, I think that, we saw some guys play well. I thought guys had moments. I thought Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield] had some good moments. I thought Trey Parker had some good moments.
“I didn't think Marcus Hill nor Dontrez Styles really ever got going. We were limited with our perimeter scoring. I didn't think either one of those guys who we relied on early really had great games.
“Now, a lot of that may have been what Purdue was doing against them. Well, we just got to find different ways when you got one or two of your scorers not playing well.”
How did you view going 4 of 17 on three-pointers?
“I thought we got some great looks. Dontrez particularly had some great looks, but it just didn't go down for them. And then on the other hand, Purdue's a team that can really shoot the basketball. We held them to four threes up until the last minute, and then they made one, obviously, in the corner. But I thought we did some really good things. It's a game where we can grow from. It's a game that we can learn from.
“Certainly, I hate losing, but it's one of those things where we can clean up some things and we can get better.”
You were able to do a lot of good things, is that encouraging?
“I told you we did some good things. We have to grow from it. Every game that you're playing, you're going to learn something from. In this game, I thought defensively in the second half, we weren't locked in as we were in the first. And then we gave them spurts. At times, they made some shots and we didn't answer on our end. We missed some shots we would normally make. But there's an opportunity there for us to get better in a lot of areas.”
Here is a transcript of what Keatts had to say:
What are your initial thoughts?
“Well, I thought we did some really good things. I thought if you look at the two halves, I thought early on we didn't get back in transition. Obviously, they jumped off to a nice lead. We fought, we caught the lead.
“I thought in the second half they did a good job of going inside and obviously playing through their big guy [Trey Kaufman-Renn], who got in foul trouble. We did some good things. When you look at it, I think the difference in the game is we got out-rebounded by 10. We got to do a better job as a group rebounding the basketball.
“They got to the free-throw line a lot more than us [26 attempts to 15]. That's a difference in the game and we got to do better with that part of it.”
You didn’t play your best in the first half, but were right there. Is that how you saw it?
“Yeah, I thought in the second half we got a little extended defensively and we gave up some easy shots. I didn't think our help shot defense was very good. All things that we can work on, all things that we can get better. We played against a very good Purdue team and was right there. Obviously, we got to clean up some things and move forward.”
How do you feel some of the new guys did and what did they learn?
“Well, I think that, we saw some guys play well. I thought guys had moments. I thought Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield] had some good moments. I thought Trey Parker had some good moments.
“I didn't think Marcus Hill nor Dontrez Styles really ever got going. We were limited with our perimeter scoring. I didn't think either one of those guys who we relied on early really had great games.
“Now, a lot of that may have been what Purdue was doing against them. Well, we just got to find different ways when you got one or two of your scorers not playing well.”
How did you view going 4 of 17 on three-pointers?
“I thought we got some great looks. Dontrez particularly had some great looks, but it just didn't go down for them. And then on the other hand, Purdue's a team that can really shoot the basketball. We held them to four threes up until the last minute, and then they made one, obviously, in the corner. But I thought we did some really good things. It's a game where we can grow from. It's a game that we can learn from.
“Certainly, I hate losing, but it's one of those things where we can clean up some things and we can get better.”
You were able to do a lot of good things, is that encouraging?
“I told you we did some good things. We have to grow from it. Every game that you're playing, you're going to learn something from. In this game, I thought defensively in the second half, we weren't locked in as we were in the first. And then we gave them spurts. At times, they made some shots and we didn't answer on our end. We missed some shots we would normally make. But there's an opportunity there for us to get better in a lot of areas.”
