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NC State Basketball

Kevin Keatts Talks To Media Before GT: BULLETED

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NC State head coach Kevin Keatts talked to the media today before the Wolfpack’s matchup against Georgia Tech tomorrow night. You can watch it in full here, but here it is in BULLETED form.

On Georgia Tech:

  • Georgia Tech has played a lot of people tough.
  • Josh Okogie might be about as good of a combination Guard/Forward we’ve seen all year (18 ppg). TJ Jackson is also very good.
  • Tough game on the road especially with their style of play. Started to figure things out now since their PG has been out. Pressure style defense, switching off screens.

On NC State:

  • We do a lot of full court shooting in practice. Wants players to be able to shoot at the end of the game. Thinks it’s a mistake to do a lot of half court shooting. Also one of the only teams in the country still doing individual work. Bring in individual players twice a week for 10-15 minutes to work on shots.
  •  Taking good shots right now.
  • Said before, a good shooting team is a good passing team. Finding open shooters and not forcing shots like we did earlier.
  • Excited for the guys. 20 wins and 10 in conference. But if you were to come to practice you wouldn’t see much patting players on the back. There’s still a lot of work to be done.
  • Omer Yurtseven gives a dimension most teams in the country don’t have. They don’t have a Center that can pick and pop from three, and from 15 and make shots. He’s playing really good basketball this time of year. Don’t talk percentages with him because don’t want him taking too many. When you take too many your percentage goes down.
  • Thinks it’s great Abu gets to play in the postseason. Didn’t get a chance to last year. Real big for Abu and Freeman, and the two grad transfers, Freeman and Hunt.
  • Abu and Freeman have been the best. Both have really sacrificed a little bit of their game for the team. Been great leaders even when they haven played a lot of minutes. Abu has been the biggest cheerleader we have. They see the opportunity.

Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

NC State Basketball

An NC State Win Over Marquette in the Sweet 16 Would Be…

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Awesome. Obviously.

#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette tomorrow night in the Sweet 16. What would a win mean for the Wolfpack? Many things, but here’s just a few:

It would give NC State 25 wins on the year (25-14), which would be the most wins since 1982-83, when the Wolfpack went 26-10, winning the National Championship.

It would mark the 12th time in school history that NC State has won 25+ games in a single season.

1982-83 – 26-10 

1973-74 – 30-1 

1972-73 – 27-0 

1954-55 – 28-4 

1953-54 – 26-7

1952-53 – 26-6 

1950-51 – 30-7 

1949-50 – 27-6 

1948-49 – 25-8 

1947-48 – 29-3

1946-47- 26-5

It would be the 7th time NC State has advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.

1950

1951

1974

1983

1985

1986

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NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

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NC State has won 5 ACC Championships this year, which is the most of any athletic program in the conference this year.

The Wolfpack has won ACC Titles in Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Men’s Basketball and Gymnastics.

The last time NC State won 5 ACC Championships in one year was 1979-80.

As far as I can tell, here’s a look at the Wolfpack Conference Titles from 1979-80:

Football
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Men’s Tennis

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NC State Basketball

NC State is 1 of 4 Schools to Have Both Men & Women’s Basketball Teams in Sweet 16

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NC State is 1 of 4 schools to have their Men and Women’s Basketball teams BOTH advance to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, Gonzaga and UCONN.

NC State and Duke are the only two schools in the country to send both Basketball teams to the Sweet 16, and also send the Football team to a bowl game.

This marks only the third time in school history that BOTH teams made the Sweet 16.

Years NC State’s Men & Women’s Teams Made the Sweet 16

1985
1989
2024

Despite the fact that the Men’s team has made the Elite 8 six times (1950, 1951, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986), and the Women have made it 2 times (1998 & 2022), in the three occasions they both went to the Sweet 16 in the same year, neither team advanced to the Elite 8.

In 2024, Why Not Us?

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NC State Basketball

#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

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#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

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