NC State coach Kevin Keatts broke down how he felt about NC State's 75-60 road loss at Kansas on Saturday on the Wolfpack radio network.
The effort wasn't in question today, but Kansas jumped out to a 15-0 lead. How difficult was that?
“Well, I thought we, first half, we started off, obviously, it was what it was. They came out red hot. When we shuttled in, I thought we played a good last 10 minutes of the first half and actually cut it to eight. With a chance, probably, to be around six or seven.
“I thought coming out at halftime, we had some opportunities and we took two tough shots at the beginning. We gave them three offensive rebounds and it kind of got up to 11. And for the entire game, it was an even game, and stayed between 11 and 15.
“We did some good things. I thought our guys fought a lot. What an incredible atmosphere is here. When you talk about the crowd, I thought our guys fought through some of that stuff. But this particular group, we need each other to play well. You can't have individuals in there.
“It's tough to win a big road game like this when some of your better players don't have a good night.”
Was one of the best attributes your ability to go inside?
“I thought we were really aggressive and we followed the game plan. We threw the ball inside. We did a good job. Our bigs were good. I thought Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield] and both Ben [Middlebrooks] really played well for us.
“We wanted to feed them. They were the guys that kind of calmed us down. We were able to slow the game down. Obviously, we were able to score when we got the ball inside.”
Playing the bigs together maybe now the identity of this squad?
“I think so. It's going to be some opportunities. I thought we shwed glimpses of how they can play together. I thought they complemented each other really well. Kansas is a good basketball team. They were desperate. They lost a couple games. They do a great job here. I thought our fight and effort was there.
“I just thought at times we got a little disconnected and didn't get on the same page. Once again, with this particular group, we can't have where we got two or three guys that just doesn't play well.”
Did this first road game help the team for the ACC schedule?
“Well, of course, I wanted to get out of here with a win. Obviously, it's playing in our first true road game in a hostile environment. Surely you hope this will prepare us when we play in the ACC and have that opportunity. I thought we did some really good things, but I think, I thought there was times that we were a little careless with the basketball. I didn't think we made great passes and all that other stuff. And I thought at times we took a couple tougher shots than we needed to have.”
Was it tough to not cut the lead down?
“Well, it was. I mean, I thought we had some opportunities where we just did not score the basketball. We had some numbers and for whatever reason. You don't get mad at those. You just hope they would have converted those things.
“it's a lot to learn from this game. I'm OK with our guys. We got to figure it out. We got to figure out during times when things get a little tight in the game, do we get connected, run some offense where we're not checking a couple bad shots.”
The effort wasn't in question today, but Kansas jumped out to a 15-0 lead. How difficult was that?
“Well, I thought we, first half, we started off, obviously, it was what it was. They came out red hot. When we shuttled in, I thought we played a good last 10 minutes of the first half and actually cut it to eight. With a chance, probably, to be around six or seven.
“I thought coming out at halftime, we had some opportunities and we took two tough shots at the beginning. We gave them three offensive rebounds and it kind of got up to 11. And for the entire game, it was an even game, and stayed between 11 and 15.
“We did some good things. I thought our guys fought a lot. What an incredible atmosphere is here. When you talk about the crowd, I thought our guys fought through some of that stuff. But this particular group, we need each other to play well. You can't have individuals in there.
“It's tough to win a big road game like this when some of your better players don't have a good night.”
Was one of the best attributes your ability to go inside?
“I thought we were really aggressive and we followed the game plan. We threw the ball inside. We did a good job. Our bigs were good. I thought Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield] and both Ben [Middlebrooks] really played well for us.
“We wanted to feed them. They were the guys that kind of calmed us down. We were able to slow the game down. Obviously, we were able to score when we got the ball inside.”
Playing the bigs together maybe now the identity of this squad?
“I think so. It's going to be some opportunities. I thought we shwed glimpses of how they can play together. I thought they complemented each other really well. Kansas is a good basketball team. They were desperate. They lost a couple games. They do a great job here. I thought our fight and effort was there.
“I just thought at times we got a little disconnected and didn't get on the same page. Once again, with this particular group, we can't have where we got two or three guys that just doesn't play well.”
Did this first road game help the team for the ACC schedule?
“Well, of course, I wanted to get out of here with a win. Obviously, it's playing in our first true road game in a hostile environment. Surely you hope this will prepare us when we play in the ACC and have that opportunity. I thought we did some really good things, but I think, I thought there was times that we were a little careless with the basketball. I didn't think we made great passes and all that other stuff. And I thought at times we took a couple tougher shots than we needed to have.”
Was it tough to not cut the lead down?
“Well, it was. I mean, I thought we had some opportunities where we just did not score the basketball. We had some numbers and for whatever reason. You don't get mad at those. You just hope they would have converted those things.
“it's a lot to learn from this game. I'm OK with our guys. We got to figure it out. We got to figure out during times when things get a little tight in the game, do we get connected, run some offense where we're not checking a couple bad shots.”
