Connect with us

NC State Basketball

Keatts presser after win over Louisville (BULLETED)

Published

on

Kevin Keatts met with media after last night’s 76-69 win over Louisville…

  • Excited for seniors. Malik and Lennard welcomed me into their program. Proud of them. Both have sacrificed their game a bit for the team. Winning 21 games and 11 conference games means a lot to them.
  • Want to thank Al and Sam. They trusted me before coaching a game here.
  • Special evening for it work out this way. Senior nights don’t always work out with a win.
  • Told underclassmen one day this will be them and wanted them to play as hard as they could for the seniors and help them go out with a win.
  • Both teams came out flat in first half. Low energy. Told team to stay the course. In 2nd half we’ll find energy, play hard and win.
  • Give the guys credit. Did it on the defensive end. Shared the basketball and really took care of it. 12 assists on 26 makes and only 4 TOs.
  • Great regular season. Was 10-3 in non-conference. 5th game of season, beat the #2 team (Arizona). Started ACC play getting blown out by Clemson, lost by 30 to ND. For this team to bounce back and win 11 conference games shows character of the kids in the locker room.
  • Excited about way team is playing. Winning 5 of last 6 regular season games. Team is playing good basketball. Starting to figure it out. Sharing the ball is the key.
  • To be successful we have to play together and guys are understanding that. Have to be a high assist team and low TO team that takes good shots. Starting to become that.
  • Talked about taking cares of the ball. Talk about it every game. Louisville is long and athletic, but we forced them into bad situations. Defense was sharp as it’s bee. Locked in. Even when team wasn’t scoring, defense stayed good.
  • One day turnaround form GT was tough. Friday, watched film and went on the floor for an hour and cleaned some things up. One day prep means you have to rely on how hard you play as opposed to what the team is running because you don’t have time to go over all their sets. Older guys had to just pick up things from watching film.
  • Did a good job cleaning up mistakes from GT game.
  • People starting to see it now. We are in better shape than most teams. Shows during end of games. Closing games well and did so tonight.
  • Omer struggled with shot early but kept him in. Going with the guys that got us here. Kid had a tremendous year. Give him credit.
  • Yurt did well defensively. 5 blocks. Played against two really good guys. Two of the top shot blockers in the nation. Thought he was just as good as them
  • Don’t know about NCAA Tournament. Committee has to decide that next Sunday. We look like a Tourney team. Team answered every question the NCAA could ask. Beaten 5 top 25 teams, 4 top 20. 11 ACC wins. You guys make the case. Just stating facts.
  • We run lots of ball screens. Tough when teams can switch 1 to 5. Need to get a lot of ball movement and player movement. Even when ball goes inside, need guys to cut. Did a good job. Found stride in 2nd half.
  • Lots of gratitude owed to senior class. Dr. Yow said we didn’t know who we’d have on the roster. Lost good pieces from last year. Guys that decided to stay have battled and now making NC State something we are proud of. Punch clock every time we play.
  • Might not be most talented team, but we play hard. Give guys credit. Omer could have gone to draft. Lennard could have been a grad-transfer. Malik could have transferred. Without those guys we would not be here.
  • Proud of this group. Most people say we could win or weren’t tough enough.
  • What do you guys call it “NC State Stuff” ? What is that. Don’t know what that is. We’ve stuffed that stuff and would like to not hear the NC State “stuff” anymore this regular season.(Note: Keatts reading PI? He reiterated what we wrote about this past week. Read it here.)
  • Proud of guys and assistant coaches. Second time taking over a program and winning in year one. Able to bc of lots of practice. At Hargrave, never had guys back. Different team every year. Not saying guys wont be back, but used to teaching from day one.
  • Basketball coaches should be teachers. Pride myself in teaching.
  • Not going to grade myself. I’m sure media will grade me soon. Not taking credit for this. Everyone gets credit. Fans are tremendous. Dr. Yow gave me the chance. Our players, family. Thank the lord for this opportunity.
  • Excited about ACC Tourney, butn ot overwhelmed. Not going g00-g00 eyed to the tournament. We’ve played everyone that is there. Excited for the chance to see what my guys can do in the tourney.

NC State Basketball

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

Published

on

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

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

Published

on

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

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

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

Published

on

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?

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

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

Published

on

#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.

Continue Reading