Keatts: "What An Unbelievable Game"

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media after the Wolfpack's 95-91 overtime win at No. 10 North Carolina.

Opening Statement...
Well, guys, give Carolina a lot of credit. What an unbelievable game, a game that went back and forth. Obviously, we played a very good basketball team on their home floor with great tradition.

Give our guys credit. I thought we fought all the way to the end. It was one of those games where I thought whoever got stops at the end will be able to win the game, and certainly I thought our guys did.

When you look at our guys and look at the stat sheet, I thought we had tremendous effort from a lot of our guys. A lot of our guys had career highs in the ACC. I thought Markell Johnson’s play was extremely outstanding. He had 20 points and 11 assists. I thought Al Freeman really shot the ball well, obviously going 7-for-7 from three.

I’m proud of these guys. A great coaching win, a great team win, and at this time, I’ll take questions.

You said after the game Sunday that you wanted to see Markell shoot it more...
He’s a very good basketball player. He’ll come in, he’ll pass the ball, and he’ll leave the game. If he has 15 assists and no points, he’s happy. I love that about him, but I told him in that position he’s in for this team, we need him to score the ball also.

Is getting stops late becoming your trademark?
Typically, my teams get a little stronger at the end, and the reason being is because I think we’re in a little bit better shape than everybody else. I’m not saying that they weren’t in shape, but I just think our conditioning tends to kick in at the end of the game.

You've beaten a one-seed, maybe a couple of two-seeds... what is it about this team?
I think these guys are learning how to fight and learning how to compete.

In the locker room before the game, because we don’t play a game until next Saturday, I gave them incentive. I don’t know if this helped them win the game. But I told them, ‘Regardless of what happens, you’re going to be off the rest of the day, we’re going to take off Sunday, and we’re going to take off Monday. So I want you come out, give great effort, and play as hard as you can for 40 minutes.’

I didn’t know it was going to go extra innings, but I think our guys are understanding that if we play together and stay together as a team that we can be successful.

You're tied with UNC at 5-4, does that put perspective on where you've come from?
I try not to get these guys to concentrate on each individual school in the league. Obviously, we know there are outstanding programs in the league, Carolina being one. But we just talk about being in the race. I try not to get them to focus the top tier. We just stay the course and try to focus on the next opponent.

The four-guard lineup...
It’s game-to-game. I actually decide who plays or how long they play with the flow of the game, but also it’s with whatever happens in practice. Malik Abu is going to be fine, and Lennard [Freeman] is going to be fine. It’s just that that combination worked for us in this game.

Carolina spreads you out because when they put Theo Pinson at the 4, it’s a tough matchup for two post guys.

Beating Duke and North Carolina, is there a contract extension in the works, and where is ice cream coming from?
I don't know... my tradition with ice cream is to get it wherever we win the game, but I do think it's important to get back to Raleigh and celebrate with our fans, maybe give the business to one of our locals.

These are great wins...

Is the three-point shooting a ball-movement thing?
It’s weird because we’re a lot better shooting team than we’ve been in some games. When we get the right guys in the right spots, I’ve always said this, a good passing team is a good shooting team. When we pass the ball, and we make the extra pass and our guys are able to get their feet set, we shoot the ball well.

Being 5-4, 3-0 over Tobacco Road opponents, it has to feel special.
It’s special. I know you guys want something from me to say about beating Duke and Carolina, and I’m proud of that, but I’m also proud of the other three teams that we beat in our league. That’s what it’s about: focusing on the next guy.

You were last at one point in three-point shooting, how much has Markell's return improved your shooting?
Markell’s return has helped everybody. Not so much because he can score and he can pass, but it’s also taking the pressure off Al Freeman and Braxton Beverly. They can play off the ball, and they don’t have to handle the ball as much. He’s made us better in every aspect.

Your players were giving you credit in instilling confidence.
I had somebody tell me before the game that last time that NC State played here, we lost by 51. I quickly dismissed that because we’re not the same team, nor is Carolina. It’s a different team.

I’ve always said this: every game you play in the ACC will be a different game. For us, I give these guys tremendous offensive confidence to take shots when they feel like they have them. But I ask them to play on the defensive end. I’m not saying they have to do everything right, but I want them to play hard. I think they’re starting to believe in that.

You've been the better team down the stretch in each of your last three wins. How big is conditioning?
Having back-to-back road games in this league is unbelievable.

What did you see from Markell in the pick-and-roll and thoughts on defending Joel Berry.
Coming into the game, Carolina is very dangerous in three categories. They really shoot the basketball, they kill you on the offensive glass, and they’re unbelievable in transition. We knew if we could take two of those three away, we had a chance. Also, I thought Markell was very aggressive at times in pick-and-roll situations today.

When Theo makes those baskets at the rim is there much you can do?
I was mad at Theo [Pinson]. Like, ‘Why are you making these shots?’ No, give him credit. He was very good. I thought Theo and Luke Maye were very good.

They’ve got a great team. They caught us in a couple of situations where we had to switch our 4’s and 5’s. I thought Theo did a great job driving Omer.

Thoughts on practice after Pitt...
It was weird because we got back from Pitt at about 2:30 (a.m.), and by the time we got to bed, it was probably 3:30. On Thursday, we just watched film. We didn’t even take the floor because I thought it would help us.

Then we went on the floor yesterday for an hour and a half. I thought our guys looked confident coming off that Pitt win. The best thing that happened to us was we played great in the second half at Pitt, especially in the last six minutes of the game.