NC State Basketball Head Coach Finds Positives in Fourth Straight Loss

Facing the SMU Mustangs (15-5, 6-3 ACC), who arrived in the Lenovo Center on Saturday afternoon with the ACC's highest scoring average at 84.2 points per game, NC State basketball locked in defensively to the tune of nine steals and seven blocks. But the Wolfpack shot only 4-for-24 from three and ultimately fell, 63-57, marking the reeling squad's fourth straight loss.

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So, positive takeaways center on NC State's defense, along with the 18-6 Wolfpack run across the first seven minutes of the game and the refusal to throw in the towel down the stretch.

Here's what eighth-year NC State basketball head coach Kevin Keatts said in his opening statement after watching his Wolfpack (9-10, 2-6 ACC), now with seemingly zero chance of earning an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, lose for the 10th time in its past 14 outings:

"Well, we did some really good things tonight. I think it was the most turnovers we've forced in an ACC game and maybe even the most steals that we've had this entire year. When you look at it, we got 64 shots to their 52. We made 15 points from the free throw line. We got 16 points from fast breaks...

"And here’s the key to the game: We're not shooting the ball well at all. I thought we had some really good looks. And for whatever reason, we're not making those.

"And so, our guys are fighting their butts off defensively. Defense is really keeping us in every game that we have. And obviously, when you hold a team to 63 points, you have a chance to win.

"And the unfortunate thing is we scored 57. Offensively, we're not making shots. And we've got some great looks. And they're just, obviously, not going down.

"The message to the guys is to keep on fighting — don't let your defense suffer. Eventually, as we keep working and putting the work in, we think our offense will catch up with our defense as far as making shots. And if that happens, then we're gonna be OK. But we've got to figure out how to score the basketball. And like I said, I thought we had some great looks."

NC State will now gear up for a road test against the No. 2-ranked Duke Blue Devils at 8:30 p.m. ET Monday (ESPN).

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