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NC State Basketball

LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Players

December 28, 2018
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Torin Dorn, Jericole Hellems, and Braxton Beverly met with the media after the Wolfpack's 97-64 win over Loyola Maryland.



NC State Senior Guard Torin Dorn

On entering ACC play...
I feel good about it. I think any team would take a start to a season 12-1.

I think it’s business as usual. We've played good teams before and we've beaten good teams. I think every game is that much more important in ACC play. We’re trying to win a championship and be the best team we can be. You just have to come to practice and get ready to go.

We come to NC State to play in the ACC. We play in the best conference in basketball so we’re definitely excited.

On the game...
I feel good about it. We started off a little slow, but once we got it going, we played really well.

On Jericole Hellems...
He works extremely hard on his game. It was just a matter of time before he had a breakout game like tonight.  I am definitely excited to see that kid do work.

On being ranked...
It felt good, but we’re a team that's never really concerned ourselves about numbers, but it's good to get validation when you've done some things that you're proud of.

Freshman Wing Jericole Hellems

On the team...
I think we feel good playing with each other, practice is intense every day, and we push each other to get better every day. I think when it comes to playing somebody else, we feel better and just try to take it out on them and have fun with it.

I just think coming out being able to play is a blessing. think it's just fun for me. I'm not worried about anything else.

On entering ACC play...
I think the vibe is just trying to prove a lot of people wrong, and that we can contend with the top teams. I think we can come out and surprise a lot of teams. It should be fun.”

On being a scoring threat...
I think watching all the players play with a lot of scorers like Jayson Tatum helped. I just like to score the ball. It’s an important part of my game, but I also like to work on trying to get better on defense too.

On Coach Keatts...
He stresses to me every day that defense is the most important thing, along with coming off the bench and giving the team energy. Whatever I can do to help the team win is what he wants me to do.

On scoring...
It gives me more confidence to shoot the ball. Coach Keatts tells me that every time I shoot, I need to have confidence in that shot. It always helps when the ball goes in and when my teammates are able to find me open on the court.

On ACC play...
I think it’s going to be a great environment. When we played Auburn here last week, it was a crazy environment, so I know ACC play is going to be just as good. I’m looking forward to proving people wrong and having fun with it.

On the team...
I think the strength of our team is how well we can run up and down the court. We’ve got a lot of different weapons and guys who can score the ball and play defense well. I think our pressure is one of our best weapons.

Sophomore Guard Braxton Beverly

On ACC play...
I’m really excited, possibly a little more than the new guys because they don’t know what it’s like yet. Going forward, we’re just trying to prepare ourselves for that now that non-conference play is over.

On what he learned from last year...
Last year we started off with two tough games. Torin Dorn and I were talking about the second game against Notre Dame. They had both of their star players out and still beat us bad. That just shows how deep the talent is in the ACC. It doesn’t matter if one or two guys are hurt because the rest of their team is still very good, and you’ve got to be ready to go every night.

On game planning for ACC...
You’re a little more familiar with some of the players, but one thing Coach Keatts doesn’t make the game plan any different from non-conference games to ACC games. We try to take every game the same and at the same level.

On players in the ACC...
A lot of guys on this team know players around the ACC. Basketball is a smaller community when you get to this level. With that, you’re going to know more guys you’re playing which makes it more fun trying to get bragging rights over guys.

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LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Wolfpack Players

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