VIDEO: Kevin Keatts’ Press Conference After NC State Beat Mercer 78-74

Head Coach Kevin Keatts talked to the media in his postgame press conference after NC State squeaked by Mercer 78-74. The video is ABOVE, and a bulleted breakdown is BELOW.

• First thing I want to do is congratulate our football team. Earned a heck of a road win and have done a good job with that program.
• Braxton Beverly is probably going to have to shave his beard now. I told him if he ever went 0-4 he would have to shave his beard, so we will probably have a conversation tomorrow.
• We needed a game where we had to really finish the game.
• The first five games we played, they were a little lopsided. We did have the opportunity to try and execute at the end of the game. I thought we did some good things and I thought we had some things we need to work on. I look forward to getting back in the gym and getting after it.
• It’s tough to win by a larger margin when you shoot 16-for-29 from the free throw line.
• I wanted to bring Devon Daniels off the bench to kind of look at the game and to see the flow of the game (when asked about starting Braxton Beverly). He was a little more comfortable today. He had been pressing the first couple of games. It was more about Devon, than it was about Braxton. I just wanted him to settle in and see the game.
  • Had to do the same thing last year with Allerik Freeman. Al struggled for a while and then we brought him out for a stretch. He saw the game and worked his way back in.
• I don’t know that it makes me happy (close game), but it gives me the opportunity to take the tape with those guys and talk about end-of-game situations. As a coach we practice it and we talk about it, but if you don’t experience it during the game, it’s tough.
• We did some great things at the end, but we fouled too much. Torin Dorn took a shot too early in the shot clock when we could have burned some clock. These are all teaching moments for us.
• I don’t know if they’re (Mercer) a tournament team. I don’t know if we’re a tournament team. I hope we both are. He’s done a great job. You can’t ignore what he’s done in his career there. They’re a tremendous team. They make you work for everything.
• I thought we made a couple of big shots when we needed it at the end. Torin Dorn made some shots. Even though we missed a few free throws, Eric Lockett stepped up and made a couple of really big shots. We switched out and guarded the three-point line well, even though we got driven by and gave up layups. With a team like Mercer, we wanted to guard the three-point line first.
• I haven’t had a chance to watch Wisconsin yet. I’m one of those guys that is very superstitious. I won’t watch a team we’re playing until we’re about to play those guys to prepare. We’ll watch a little film tonight. It’s a different team, a different year, and a different situation.