NC State coach Kevin Keatts shared his thoughts on the Wolfpack Radio Network following the loss at Virginia.
What really changed in that second 20 minutes?
"Well, I think you hit it on the head. I thought the first half we were great. We defended, we did everything we needed to do. Offensively, we were sharp. I think we really passed the ball. Had 11 assists at the half. Did a good job on the defensive end and they only made two [3-pointers in the first half].
"This team we talked about, you have to stay together. You got to play together. I thought we became a little bit more individual in the second half. We gave up seven threes. You know, only had three assists in the second half because we didn't play together. That's where we got to get better. We got to put halves together. We've done some good things.
"I thought our guys did a great job in the first half. We moved the ball. The ball didn't stick. We talked about a good Virginia team defensively, especially on their home floor, the ball can't stick. In the second half, it was completely opposite of the first."
How hard was it to not have senior center Ben Middlebrooks due to illness?
"Well, we missed him. Obviously, I found out this morning that he had been throwing up through the most part of the night. We thought he was going to be fine today. He kind of went through warm-ups a little bit. Then obviously he was back throwing up.
"I'm always going to error on the safety of a young man. We missed him. We missed him because we missed his energy and it changed their rotation. But that's not an excuse. Both Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield] and Ishmael [Diouf] was good in the first half. I didn't think they did a great job in the second half."
Would have been nice to have Ben Middlebrooks as an option with Elijah Saunders?
"Of course it would. Ben changes us. He's our energy guy. He's a rebound guy. He's a toughness guy. I thought we played well enough in the second and first half. But we didn't need him. When we needed him in the second half when obviously they committed their self to going inside. I give our team a lot of credit for the fight. We got to put two halves together. We didn't put two halves together today.
How did you feel the team attacked the glass?
"I thought we did a good job. I mean, we rebounded the ball. But I thought when you look at the stat sheet, Dontrez Stiles has one rebound, Dennis Parker doesn't have any and we didn't get any rebounds for what I consider that big guard position. We got to have other guys rebound the basketball.
"I thought our fives rebounded and did some good things. Even though we got 13 and we all rebounded them, I just thought we left too many opportunities out there."
Did the Virginia offense energize them?
"We did such a great job on both ends of the floor in the first half. What was disappointing is how we gave up shots in the second half. Like [Isaac] McKneely didn't get one look. I thought he got two or three great looks and luckily, he didn't make them all in the second half. We gave up open shots. We stopped defending. We didn't defend the way we needed to. I thought we defended the entire first half. We came out playing well offensively at the start of the second half. The last four minutes of the game is where we defended. But in between, we gave up too many shots."
What really changed in that second 20 minutes?
"Well, I think you hit it on the head. I thought the first half we were great. We defended, we did everything we needed to do. Offensively, we were sharp. I think we really passed the ball. Had 11 assists at the half. Did a good job on the defensive end and they only made two [3-pointers in the first half].
"This team we talked about, you have to stay together. You got to play together. I thought we became a little bit more individual in the second half. We gave up seven threes. You know, only had three assists in the second half because we didn't play together. That's where we got to get better. We got to put halves together. We've done some good things.
"I thought our guys did a great job in the first half. We moved the ball. The ball didn't stick. We talked about a good Virginia team defensively, especially on their home floor, the ball can't stick. In the second half, it was completely opposite of the first."
How hard was it to not have senior center Ben Middlebrooks due to illness?
"Well, we missed him. Obviously, I found out this morning that he had been throwing up through the most part of the night. We thought he was going to be fine today. He kind of went through warm-ups a little bit. Then obviously he was back throwing up.
"I'm always going to error on the safety of a young man. We missed him. We missed him because we missed his energy and it changed their rotation. But that's not an excuse. Both Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield] and Ishmael [Diouf] was good in the first half. I didn't think they did a great job in the second half."
Would have been nice to have Ben Middlebrooks as an option with Elijah Saunders?
"Of course it would. Ben changes us. He's our energy guy. He's a rebound guy. He's a toughness guy. I thought we played well enough in the second and first half. But we didn't need him. When we needed him in the second half when obviously they committed their self to going inside. I give our team a lot of credit for the fight. We got to put two halves together. We didn't put two halves together today.
How did you feel the team attacked the glass?
"I thought we did a good job. I mean, we rebounded the ball. But I thought when you look at the stat sheet, Dontrez Stiles has one rebound, Dennis Parker doesn't have any and we didn't get any rebounds for what I consider that big guard position. We got to have other guys rebound the basketball.
"I thought our fives rebounded and did some good things. Even though we got 13 and we all rebounded them, I just thought we left too many opportunities out there."
Did the Virginia offense energize them?
"We did such a great job on both ends of the floor in the first half. What was disappointing is how we gave up shots in the second half. Like [Isaac] McKneely didn't get one look. I thought he got two or three great looks and luckily, he didn't make them all in the second half. We gave up open shots. We stopped defending. We didn't defend the way we needed to. I thought we defended the entire first half. We came out playing well offensively at the start of the second half. The last four minutes of the game is where we defended. But in between, we gave up too many shots."
