Kevin Keatts: "It Was a Heated Game"

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts spoke with the Wolfpack radio crew following State's 95-86 loss to BYU in the Vegas Showdown championship game Friday evening.

NOTE: Click on the player above to listen to Keatts’ interview.

“Give credit: we played against a really good BYU team. It felt like a late February conference game. I thought, for the most part, it was a really good game. This was the first game where we didn't do a really good job of comprehending scouting report. Coming into the game, we knew that they were really elite three-point shooting team, making 13 a game, and to be honest with you, we gave up 14 threes which was not acceptable.”

“You can look at it as back-to-back games, but we have to do a better job of taking away a team’s strengths. We had a really good weekend where our guys played extremely hard. I just thought tonight we let the BYU play to their strengths. They're a three-point shooting team. They get into transition. They’re good at half court. We didn't do a good job of communicating, and we gave up some open shots that kind of blew the game open.”

"We were very, very active. When you look at the stat sheet, we turned them over seven times, but they passed the ball well;  they had 20 assists on 34 made field goals. The biggest thing that really stands out is we let them get their average of what they make actually from a three-point line, and give them credit: they moved the ball around, and they got some guys who made some shots. At any point, they will have four three-point shooters on the court at the same time, and that's the difference in the game, to be honest with you.”

"I thought Casey [Morsell] was very aggressive. When you look at the stats sheet, he's better when he's filling every category: 28 points and six rebounds. He got to the free-throw line several times. He was very efficient, 50 percent from the three, and I thought he played really, really well. He made some shots for us. He had a really, really good game.”

“It was a very competitive game. Like I told you before, it felt like a late February ACC game, and it felt like we were battling and fighting. It was a heated game, and that's what you get when you get a couple of teams that are really competing."