Keatts: 'They Were Playing Well And We Didn't Make Shots'

Here's what the NC State coach said after Saturday's 72-58 loss at Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- It's been one step forward, one back for the NC State basketball team through the first five games of its ACC schedule this season.

After taking a major stride in the right direction with Wednesday's come-from-behind home victory against Notre Dame, the Wolfpack regressed considerably in a 72-58 loss at Virginia Tech.

Not only did State shoot just 31.9 percent from the floor and misfire on 24 of its 30 3-point attempts, but just as it did at Clemson two games ago, it sputtered down the stretch. This time it surrendered a late 11-0 run that allowed the Hokies to blow open a close game and drop the Wolfpack to 11-5 overall and 2-3 in the ACC.

Here's what coach Kevin Keatts had to say about the loss in his postgame press conference:I thought we had some really open shots. There was a moment at the beginning of the second half where I thought we played tremendous defense. Tech started the second half missing the first 10 out of 11 shots. I didn’t think we took advantage of it. Unfortunately they weren’t playing well and we didn’t make shots. Some of it was because some of the wrong guys got some shots. We didn’t finish well. I thought it was a great game back and forth, and then when you look at it, I thought we missed some great shots down the stretch. They ended up breaking the game open. 

"I thought we had some really open shots. There was a moment at the beginning of the second half where I thought we played tremendous defense. Tech started the second half missing the first 10 out of 11 shots. I didn’t think we took advantage of it. 

"Unfortunately they weren’t playing well and we didn’t make shots. Some of it was because some of the wrong guys got some shots. We didn’t finish well. I thought it was a great game back and forth, and then when you look at it, I thought we missed some great shots down the stretch. They ended up breaking the game open."

State began the day by scoring the game's first 10 points and looked like gangbusters doing it. But after a timeout, the Hokies answered back with 12 straight points of their own and the Wolfpack was never the same. 

Keatts was asked what went right during that opening 2 1/2 minute stretch, what changed and what went wrong over the final 37 1/2 minutes.

"When you look at us, it’s going to be hard for us to beat anybody when we are 6 for 30 (from 3-point range). We typically don’t take 30 3-pointers and we didn’t make them tonight. Even our shooters, the guys that typically make them, didn’t make many of them. Pat [Andree] was 2 for 6. When you look at Braxton Beverly, he was 1 for 6. I think Markell Johnson was 1 for 7. If we make six 3-pointers and we’re taking 30, that’s not a good formula for us to be successful."

Keatts was then asked if the unusual volume of three was the result of Virginia Tech's defense or impatience on the part of the Wolfpack:

"It was definitely their defense. They do a really good job of protecting the paint. They play a really similar defense (to Virginia). When you drive, everybody converges and you’re going to get those shots. We didn’t make them. We just didn’t. I thought we had some good looks. Some great looks, and they just didn’t go down for us." 

Already shorthanded, State's lack of depth became even more exaggerated when guard Braxton Beverly picking up three first half fouls and his fourth less than two minutes into the second. Here's what Keatts said about the effect Beverly's foul trouble had on the game:

"He’s got to be better. He and I talked about it. I thought his third and fourth fouls, which were fouls, I thought he could have avoided them. The guy drove baseline and he gets his third one, and then he was late on a switch and he fouls a 3-point shooter. 

"With a short bench like we have, especially in our guard rotation, we can’t afford to have anybody in foul trouble. Those times that he was off the floor kind of hurt us. I’ve been able to play him at some point guard throughout the game and take Markell (Johnson) off the ball to give him some breaks, and we weren’t able to do that because I didn’t have him on the floor." 

Keatts acknowledged that Johnson didn't play well, but was quick to point out that he was hardly the only one who struggled.

"He didn’t have a good game. We’ll get back in the gym, and we’ll work on some things. He knows that. One of the things that he and I have talked about is just being consistent, and he had an off night. I don’t know if that has anything to do with Virginia Tech’s defense, but he didn’t have a great night. That being said, most of our guys didn’t. Markell’s not to blame. If you want to blame anybody, blame me because obviously our guys didn’t shoot the ball well."

Finally, Keatts was asked if his frustration over the Wolfpack's inconsistency has been tempered by the fact that the team's best player -- C.J. Bryce -- has been sidelined for the past four games while recovering from a concussion.

"I understand who we are right now. I understand that we don’t have all of our pieces. That being said, I don’t want to discredit the guys in the program, so I never harp on the fact that we don’t have C.J. Bryce. If the outside is a little frustrated, they should also take a look around college basketball and see that if you don’t have your best player, you’re probably going to struggle. I’ll take the good with the bad.

"I haven’t made a lot about it because I want other guys to have the opportunity and don’t feel like I’m saying that we have to have a guy. But we miss him. We’d miss any of our three or four guards. If any of those guys were out for several games. In my position, I’m frustrated because I’m a competitor. My frustration (Saturday) didn’t come from the fact that we didn’t have C.J. Bryce, I just thought that when we needed to be tougher at the end of the game, we weren’t. That’s more of a mental side of it."