Keatts: Earlier Win No Advantage in Rematch With Miami

The Wolfpack beat the Hurricanes 80-63 in Raleigh on Jan. 15, but circumstances have changed in the month since that game was played

Coming off three straight losses, with its confidence shaken and its offense stalled, the NC State basketball team could use anything it can find right now to get itself headed back in the right direction.

You'd think a game against Miami, a team it beat back on Jan. 15 and is even more banged up than the Wolfpack, would be just what the doctor ordered.

But coach Kevin Keatts disagreed, saying that the first game against Hurricanes was too long ago to have any bearing on Wednesday's rematch at Watsco Center in Coral Gables.

"I know it sounds crazy, but when you play a team over a month or so (later), I don't think you can take anything away from it," Keatts, on the ACC's weekly coaches teleconference, said of State's 80-63 victory at PNC Arena. It was the only time in the past seven games that the Wolfpack has managed more than 65 points.

"I've already watched the tape and I'm sure Miami's staff has watched the tape just to see if both of us are doing some of the same things offensively and defensively. These games are a little different."

The degree of difference will depend on which players are available for the Hurricanes.

Leading scorer Chris Lykes, a 5-foot-7 point guard who scored 20 points in the first meeting this season and is the engine that runs coach Jim Larrañaga's team, has missed the past three games with a hip flexor.

Third-leading scorer Kameron McGusty, a 6-5 wing, has missed two of the past three games with back spasms.

Miami (11-10, 3-8 ACC) will be at a significant disadvantage if both are unable to play, especially if the Wolfpack can turn the game into a full-court, uptempo affair. Don't expect State coach Kevin Keatts to have any sympathy for Larrañaga, though.  

Although the Wolfpack is expected to be at full strength on Wednesday, with all nine eligible scholarship players available, Keatts said his team is still in the process of learning to play together again after enduring a recent injury epidemic of its own.

"I think as a coach, you have to understand who you are and what times you're playing well or not," Keatts said. "Our biggest issue, and I know I've said this for a long time, has been that we haven't been able to put everybody on the floor. 

"Most teams could probably play with seven or eight guys at times, but because we run the press and try to get after you in transition, it's really hurt us due to some of these injuries. They're part of the game, but it's just been unfortunate."

After scoring 70 or more points in 14 of its first 15 games this season, State (14-8, 5-6) has managed as many as 60 just twice in its past seven outings. A big reason for the dropoff in scoring has been the team's sudden inability to put the ball in the basket.

Athough the Wolfpack still ranks fifth in the ACC in field goal percentage at .443, it is shooting just .386 (161 of 417) overall and .255 from 3-point range (.255) during that same seven-game stretch.

State's current three-game losing streak has Keatts so concerned that he considered giving his players an extra day off on Monday to help them rest physically and reset mentally. He eventually decided against that, reasoning that the time together on the court was more important.

With just nine games remaining in the regular season and the Wolfpack teetering on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble, there's a heightened sense of urgency

"There's so much with our league this year with the highs and lows," Keatts said. "When you look at it, two weeks ago we were on a three-game winning streak with a great win at Virginia on the road. That's just our league.

"Every game in this league is important, whether we've won three or lost three. We're energized and excited about the games coming up and the next game is always our most important game. That's against Miami."