Did Coach K blow off Kevin Keatts in their postgame handshake? It’s not what you may think.
N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts led his team to an impressive win and then offered Duke’s Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski some postgame safety advice.
Video shows the two coaches having a quick handshake as the final seconds of the Wolfpack’s 88-66 hammering of the No. 6 Blue Devils ticked away at PNC Arena.
It also appeared to some that Krzyzewski kept walking and ignored Keatts as he tried to talk to him in the handshake line. That wasn’t the case, however. According to Krzyzewski, he slowed down ever so slightly for the traditional postgame exchange, saying Keatts had warned him about the maelstrom of students that was about to descend the court.
“He was just saying that they were going to storm the court, to be careful,” Krzyzewski told the media after the game. “He was great. They were great. They were all great. I wish we had come to the dance a little bit better.”
Because the Wolfpack led by more than 20 points most of the second half, PNC Arena staff prepared for the fans to storm the court throughout the game’s final minutes. Allowing the fans to celebrate while protecting the bench areas is always the goal.
The one-sided score also allowed the coaches a chance to come together at mid-court in front of the scorer’s table quicker than usual since the Wolfpack was dribbling out the final seconds of the non-competitive game.
Keatts took that opportunity to warn the visitors and Krzyzewski heeded his warning.
The Blue Devils (22-4, 12-3 ACC) seven-game winning streak ended in a game they never led. N.C. State (17-9, 8-7) dominated Duke from start to finish, boosting its own NCAA tournament chances while knocking the Blue Devils from the top spot in the ACC standings.
“NC State played great,” Krzyzewski said. “It was a superb performance by them tonight. They knew they needed the game tonight and they got it. We were not competitive tonight. In order to beat them tonight, we had to be extremely competitive.”
After his postgame press conference, Krzyzewski walked back through the PNC Arena court area that had since been vacated by the fans. He saw N.C. State senior guard Markell Johnson, who torched Duke with 28 points, still in uniform.
According to ABC11, the News & Observer’s news-gathering partners, Krzyzewski hugged Johnson, praised him and said, “you played a great game... not a good game but a great game.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 11:12 AM.