NC State coach Kevin Keatts answered a few questions on the Wolfpack Radio Network after the loss against Tennessee.
What did you see during that four-minute field-goal drought down the stretch?
“It was a hard-fought game, physical game. I thought both teams were stingy early defensively. I thought when you look at us, we made a few more mistakes than Tennessee. When you are playing a contest with two teams playing hard, who has the least amount of mistakes typically wins (both teams had 11 turnovers).
“We have a lot to build on and some good individual play. I thought we played really solid defensively as a team, something that we can grow on.
“Give credit to Tennessee for finishing the game. We’ll look at the tape and figure out how to get better. I thought we did some really good things.”
How much of an impact did Zakai Zeigler make at point guard?
“We did a great job on [Dalton] Knecht. He was 1 for 7. I thought Zeigler and Josiah James really hurt us. It wasn’t that they hurt us driving the ball. They both shot the ball well. Between the two of them, they made nine 3-pointers, and that is tough. That isn’t typically who they are.
“We guarded them well at times, but we gave them some shots and they knocked them down.”
If I had told you before the game that Knecht had two points, would you like your chances?
“I would have loved our chances. I think Tennessee is so much more than Knecht. He’s averaging 18 points per game, but [junior center Jonas] Aidoo led them last time out with 27. It’s a good team. They’ve done a good job.
“We are going to grow and we will build on this. We’ll figure out how to get things done.”
How did you think the Wolfpack handled what was expected to be a physical game?
“I thought we did a good job for the most part. We got beat to a couple of 50-50 balls where we didn’t rebound the basketball and do a couple things.
“For the most part, we fought. There is a lot to grow and a lot of growth to build on.”
How was Kam Woods in his first Wolfpack game?
“I was happy with Kam. I was happy he was able to get out on the floor. I thought he did some good things. We’ve added in the last week or two, two new pieces. Our guys are trying to figure out how to play with those guys. I thought Kam helped us tonight.
What did you see during that four-minute field-goal drought down the stretch?
“It was a hard-fought game, physical game. I thought both teams were stingy early defensively. I thought when you look at us, we made a few more mistakes than Tennessee. When you are playing a contest with two teams playing hard, who has the least amount of mistakes typically wins (both teams had 11 turnovers).
“We have a lot to build on and some good individual play. I thought we played really solid defensively as a team, something that we can grow on.
“Give credit to Tennessee for finishing the game. We’ll look at the tape and figure out how to get better. I thought we did some really good things.”
How much of an impact did Zakai Zeigler make at point guard?
“We did a great job on [Dalton] Knecht. He was 1 for 7. I thought Zeigler and Josiah James really hurt us. It wasn’t that they hurt us driving the ball. They both shot the ball well. Between the two of them, they made nine 3-pointers, and that is tough. That isn’t typically who they are.
“We guarded them well at times, but we gave them some shots and they knocked them down.”
If I had told you before the game that Knecht had two points, would you like your chances?
“I would have loved our chances. I think Tennessee is so much more than Knecht. He’s averaging 18 points per game, but [junior center Jonas] Aidoo led them last time out with 27. It’s a good team. They’ve done a good job.
“We are going to grow and we will build on this. We’ll figure out how to get things done.”
How did you think the Wolfpack handled what was expected to be a physical game?
“I thought we did a good job for the most part. We got beat to a couple of 50-50 balls where we didn’t rebound the basketball and do a couple things.
“For the most part, we fought. There is a lot to grow and a lot of growth to build on.”
How was Kam Woods in his first Wolfpack game?
“I was happy with Kam. I was happy he was able to get out on the floor. I thought he did some good things. We’ve added in the last week or two, two new pieces. Our guys are trying to figure out how to play with those guys. I thought Kam helped us tonight.
