Kevin Keatts: "I'm Very Disappointed At The End Of The Game"

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts answered questions from the Wolfpack's radio crew following the road loss at Boston College.

Opening Statement...
I thought our team turned the ball over too many times. I didn't like it. We had 19 turnovers versus Syracuse and then 16 tonight.

I'm very disappointed at the end of the game. When we were scrambling on the floor, Jericole was hollering timeout. I was yelling, timeout. I even signaled timeout and never was granted it. That's disappointing because, it gives us another opportunity.

I haven't seen the play with Mitchell, but I thought he stepped on the endline, stepped out of bounds, and they came back inbounds. That's tough because it takes you out of the opportunity to win the game. Certainly that one play didn't lose the game but opportunities at the end, that's what it's about.

NC State went on a 25-12 run over the next 12 minutes in the second half. What happened there that changed things?
Well, we just played hard.  Our effort was always there. We didn't have it offensively in the first half, and we found it.  We had guys in foul trouble. We never really got into a rhythm in the first half.  Second half we got into a rhythm, and our guys started playing well.

I love our guys. I thought we fought. I just would love to make sure that at the end of the game we get a chance to win the game on the floor.  That’s the toughest thing about it.

You sat Markell the last 14 minutes of the first half. What did you need to see from him in the second half?
I thought he played, but he got into foul trouble. He had four fouls, and obviously we were trying to get some other guys to come in and play. I thought the guys on the floor were playing well, and it wasn't as much as ball what Markell wasn't doing it was what the other guys were doing.

What was the main theme at halftime when you went into the locker room to talk to the team?
Just play better.

I thought we played on our heels in the first half, and offensively we weren't clicking.  I didn't think we were playing great on the defensive end.  We didn't have many stops.  At halftime they were shooting almost 55%.

In the second half we clamped down and we defended the way we've been defending the last few games... we made a game out of it.  We dug ourselves a hole just because we kept turning the basketball over.

What'd you think of Jericole Hellems and his willingness to compete tonight?
I thought he was fine.

You have to find ways to win when some of your better offensive players don’t play well. I thought he was one of the bright spots. I thought he made some great shots and did some good things for us.

Was this one of Manny Bates’ better games?
I thought Manny was good.

Manny was one of the reasons that we sparked a comeback.  He did a great job of protecting the rim. He did a great job around the basket, and he rebounded the basketball. 

He's had a couple of games like that where he's getting better, and we hope he continues to get better in those areas.