Keatts: 'I’m Glad to Make it Out of Here With a Win'
GREENSBORO -- NC State beat UNC Greensboro 80-77 on Sunday in a game that will long be remembered for Markell Johnson's dramatic buzzer-beating halfcourt shot.
But as coach Kevin Keatts pointed out afterward, that final SportsCenter moment would never have happened had it not been for all the clutch plays his Wolfpack made leading up to the final shot.
State shot a sizzling 56.6 percent from the floor in the game (30 of 53) and made nearly half of its 28 3-point attempts while scoring the most points anyone has all season against a UNCG defense that came into the game allowing an average of just 54 points per game.
The Wolfpack also got a big performance from graduate transfer Pat Andree (15 points on five 3-pointers), who filled in admirably for teammate Jericole Hellems, whose playing time was limited because of the injuries he suffered last week at Wake Forest.
Even though State was beaten badly on the glass, getting outrebounded by a 37-23 margin (18-2 on offensive rebounds), Keatts wasn't about to complain after a tough road win against a good mid-major opponent.
Here's what he had to say afterward at his postgame press conference:
"I thought had a great road win here. I thought our guys responded. There were ups and downs in the game and we found a way to make some plays. I thought we made some big plays down the stretch. We went up 10 and then obviously they cut the lead and I thought our guys stayed poised.
"(UNCG) made some shots. I was satisfied. I’m glad to make it out of here with a win. It’s the second time this year that I’ve drawn up a play for Markell Johnson to make a (halfcourt) shot, so I’m a heck of a coach for that. I know you guys will write that."
About that shot ...
"The weird thing is that I never think those shots go in, but I saw it midway through the air and I was like: ‘Man, this thing has a chance to go in.’ And it did. It’s crazy. I don’t know which game it was, but he hit one at halftime at home -- I think it may have been the Wisconsin game -- and then he made this one at the end.
"He was having a great night. He was feeling it. Markell is never a kid that really asks for the basketball and he was telling me ‘run a couple plays for me.’ He was feeling it at the time. He just made a big play. It’s a good play. It sealed a win. I’m excited that we got it."
Only one of UNCG's first 10 opponents scored more than 70 points in a game. Sunday, the Wolfpack scored 80, forcing the Spartans to play its style of game.
Keatts was asked what the Wolfpack did to speed the Spartans up where others have failed:
"We wanted to play fast. We talked about before the game about running on makes and misses. They do a tremendous job in their press. The press isn’t really designed to turn you over, but it ends up turning you over. What it’s designed for is to slow you down, so they don’t have to play but 17-20 seconds of defense. We tried to push. We tried to get out in front. It helped that we made some threes.
When you look at both teams, I’m sure (UNCG coach Wes Miller) will go back and look at the tape and so will I, I thought we did a poor job of defending the 3-point line. We knew coming into the game that UNCG was averaging making nine threes. They had eight in the first half. We talked about at halftime taking away the threes and we only gave up two in the second half and I thought that certainly helped us win the game."
State overcame the large discrepancy in rebound by playing an efficient offensive game -- while getting a balanced scoring attack that saw Johnson (19 points), C.J. Bryce (17) and Andree (15) all score in double figures while going a combined 19 of 35 from the floor.
Not that Keatts was surprised.
"We have a balanced team. When you look at our team, you could pick up our stat sheet and there may be any guy that leads us in scoring. We’ve been averaging at least four or five guys in double digits. That’s what makes us unique.
"It’s not the team that I thought I had at the beginning of the year, when there were 10 or 11 guys that I can put in the game. But all eight to nine guys that I have available to get in the game, they all play for each other. I think that’s important. As we continue to build our culture, we want those guys to be playing for NC State. I think we’re getting there."
With 9:33 remaining and State up by 11 at 65-54, Devon Daniels blocked a shot that Johnson turned into a fastbreak in the opposite direction. But before he could score and extend the lead, play was stopped and Daniels was called for a technical foul for taunting.
UNCG made both free throws for a four-point swing, starting a 17-7 run that got it back to within one.
Keatts was asked what happened on the play and the effect it had on allowing the Spartans to get back into contention:
"I don’t know. Whatever happened, he shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t know what he said or when he said it, but that’s not us. He wasn’t even involved in the play. It was Markell who we thought got fouled at the top of the key. But whatever he said, I’ll find out later, that’s not who we are. It changed it a little bit, because they got going after that and they made some plays."
By doing so, the Wolfpack earned a victory Keatts said will look good on its resume come March:
"I thought it would be a great game for us overall when you look at the end of the season. These guys are going to win a lot of games. They’re going to compete in their tournament. They’ve got a chance to be an NCAA team, which is great. The atmosphere was great. Having an opportunity to come to Greensboro and play in the Greensboro Coliseum, to play against a program who believes. I think it’s a good win overall. It will end up being a top-100 win for us, I think.
Four games into a potentially pivotal five-game stretch, State is now 3-1 with two of those wins coming on the road. Needless to say, Keatts is happy with the way his team is playing since the second half of its loss to Memphis in Brooklyn on Thanksgiving Day:
I talked about it after we lost to Memphis, we talked about how we won five straight games before that. We’re always talking about going back on a winning streak. When you look at this stretch and I know everybody has talked about how our stretch of five games was going to be tough. But we’ve found a way now in that stretch of games to win five in a row, with two of them being on the road.
"I think our guys will believe. I give (UNCG) a lot of credit. Everytime we made a run, and we went up double digits a couple times, they fought back. For our guys to respond says a lot about us."
