Chapel Hill, NC – In undoubtedly the biggest bodied game of the year for Kevin Keatts and his basketball team, the Wolfpack landed on the wrong end of the scoreboard, falling to North Carolina 80-69 in a game in which UNC attempted 39 free throws compared to NC State’s 12.
The game seemed to take a turn for the worst after that Terquavion Smith was carted out of the Dean Smith Mid-mid second half. NC State held the score for much of the final 20 minutes as the Wolfpack lost their 5th game of the year and will now focus on SMith’s health and Notre Dame next week.
NC State Basketball Coach Kevin Keatts watched the media postgame with the members
Here’s all he had to say:
Opening Comments:
A very physical game. If you look at the stat sheets I really thought we did some good things, we shot 41% from the field, we actually scored six more field goals than UNC. I’ve never been involved in a game where a team took 39 free throws. That means for us that we have to be a bit more aggressive. We took 12, we went 12 to 12. And so we get a little more aggressive, then maybe we’ll see another game, maybe we’ll get 20 times or 25 times and we’ll be 20-20. But only a hard one. It’s a physical game. My prayers and thoughts are with Terquavion now. I have no update for you. He went to the hospital and waited for an answer. A very emotional situation for me right now. You know, obviously the game is very important. I thought I fought. But my prayers and my thoughts always go out to my players at moments like this.
How difficult was it to regroup after Terquavion’s injury?
Well it’s hard. I mean, if you look at it, our boys are very close and it’s a tight-knit bunch. I thought we handled it as best we could. I thought our guys did a great job coming together and I think maybe we cut the lead to six at that point.
Jarkel carpenter said he didn’t think it was a dirty game. Casey said he did. would your thoughts be
I did not see it. You know, I went straight to him when he fell. I know Leakey Black so I don’t think he would have made a dirty play. But I didn’t see it.
Is a kid who could have been drafted, maybe was a first rounder last year but decided to come back because he wanted to help the program. Is that why you are so emotional about an injury like this?
Has nothing to do with the design. It could be anyone. You know what I do when I’m sitting in a kid’s house and the family has turned her over to be my coach and father while they’re here. I don’t care who it is. I don’t care what his draft status is. I don’t care if he plays three minutes a game, my son is on the team he runs. Doesn’t matter. All these children are my children. And I’m not hitting you. I just want you to know But it has nothing to do with what type of player he is.
Did you say anything to Terquavion when he was downstairs?
I’m here to support him. I’m not a paramedic. i am not a doctor I do not know what it is. My job is to be there and let him know that as a coach I’m standing by him right there, as I will and always will.
At half-time you had to feel like the game was there to take away. If you guys could shoot in the second half, it’s anyone’s game. What are your thoughts on this?
Yeah I mean I thought that was a really, really good physical game. It was a great environment on the street. I think I had a really good first half in the ACC. I thought we had our moments in the second half. I’m proud of our boys, with all the diversity we had in the second half, there could easily have been a situation where it was really one-sided. Up until the last four minutes of the game I thought it was a real game and a winnable game at that point.
It’s not uncommon to see games like this where a guy lands hard on his butt and stands up. When do you feel this is more than a typical injury or guy going to the hard drive?
When he didn’t get up? And you know, when I saw them waving to the coach, usually when they wave to the coach, it’s time for me to come too.
Many players said they expected this game to be physical. Although it’s something you talked about. Were you surprised at how physical this game was?
Well no I wasn’t. Listen, every game we’ve attended, most of them on the road, will be physical. If you play against us, it will also be physical. So I expected something from this. No wonder, then, that it was so.
What was the plan for Bacot and did you get a sense of when that might have slipped or not worked?
Well, I thought I had the same plan that everyone else in a conference has. It’s hard to stop him, he had 20 and 16 last game and 23 and 18 this game and you know you can double him or you can choose your poison. What he’s gotten really good at is when you double him, these other guys tend to get relegated. So we chose our poison and stuck with it. I think that’s why the game was within reach because we didn’t have to double him where he could throw the ball to the other guys who could take shots.
Offensively DJ Burns seemed to be successful against Bacot and was able to intercept two fouls on him in the first half. Did you think you could go back to Burns a little bit more?
Yeah I think it was a great fight between the one guy who ends up being 23 [points] and another guy ending at 18. One guy is an elite rebounder and he did what he does and he rebounds the basketball. I thought that was a great matchup and you know, I thought it was a great fight between these two guys.