Kevin Keatts: "It's the Best Game We've Played in a While"

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the Wolfpack Sports Network radio crew following the Wolfpack's 74-73 road loss to Stanford Saturday evening.

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

On the takeaways from the game...

Obviously, we lost the game, but I thought it was the best game that we played in a while where I thought I felt like everyone played together. We shared the basketball with [13] assists. We made the right play, and I didn't think we had a lot of guys forcing shots when they made them. When [Stanford’s] lead grew to five or six, we didn't panic. Normally, we panic, and obviously the score gets away from us. I thought Trey Parker was really good for us. I thought Dontrez Styles was very good for us, and Ish [Diouf] did some really good things. It’s unfortunate that we didn't get a chance to get out. I thought Trey got fouled on the last call. As a matter of fact, if you look at it, it looked like the referee raised his hand to call a foul and then he decided not to.

On utilizing younger players...

Well, some guys are growing up. Trey has really established itself as, obviously, a guy who deserves the minutes and playing well, and we're throwing some of the young guys in the mix. Because Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield] isn’t here, and I didn't think Ben [Middlebrooks] had a great trip,  I thought Ish was a bright spot for us. This one's tough because we're right there. We got a great look at the end. We wanted to put the ball in [Marcus Hill’s] hand, send Dontrez off a couple of stagger screens, and Marcus saw opening to drive the ball. He drove the ball, and then Trey obviously did a great job getting to the corner, and I thought we got a great look.

On Parker’s performance...

He was good. This was one of those “grow up” nights. He played similar to that at Duke and, obviously, on the road here. He's earning more minutes and more trust from his teammates and starting to play.

On having multiple double-digit scorers and recording double-digit assists as a team...

It was easily our best game where we played as a team, and I thought, when you look out there, we look like we knew what we were doing. It looked like we passed the ball. We played really good basketball. It's unfortunate that we didn't get to win here. Give credit to Stanford; I thought they made their free throws down the stretch. We missed a couple of them that could have helped us down the stretch.

On Ryan Agarwal’s go-ahead basket...

I’ve got to go back and see it. I don't know how he scored. I thought we did a good job of walling up, but we let him get down the lane. I didn't like that part of it.