Foul discrepancy in loss to FSU frustrates NC State coach Kevin Keatts
Markell Johnson drove to the basket and ended up on the ground.
He looked up at referee Lee Cassell for a foul call on Florida State’s Malik Osborne.
It didn’t come. It didn’t take long for Cassell to give N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts a technical foul for his subsequent protestation in the Wolfpack’s 67-61 loss to the eighth-ranked Seminoles on Saturday.
“He should have,” Keatts said. “I deserved it.”
Keatts typically doesn’t get that animated with the referees during the game. Going back to last Sunday’s loss at Boston College, he was irritated by a late-game sequence that led to a Boston College basket.
On Saturday, he was upset after Johnson drove and there was contact but no call. It was the specific call but also the cumulative effect of the second half.
“We committed 15 fouls in the second half and they committed five,” Keatts said. “We both were playing the same type of basketball and I felt like on our drives, we didn’t get the same whistle.”
FSU finished with 18 of 29 from the free-throw line. N.C. State went 9 of 13. The final foul tally was 21 for N.C. State and 15 for FSU. The Wolfpack was trying to foul at the end of the second half.
But what bothered Keatts was that both teams were playing a similar aggressive style but only one was being rewarded.
“That’s tough,” Keatts said. “It’s tough because when you’re playing against another team that will pick you up fullcourt, typically like we do, and you play the entire time and there’s a disparity in free throws, I didn’t like it. I wasn’t happy with that part of it.”
Keatts’ technical led to two free throws, which FSU’s Patrick Williams made for a 55-48 lead at 9:22.
Keatts’ frustration with the officials started with the fourth foul on forward D.J. Funderburk at 16:54. N.C. State was still ahead when Funderburk went to the bench. He didn’t come back until the 8:08 mark in the second half. He fouled out with 1:36 left in the game.
Funderburk appreciated his coach sticking up for him.
“He has a passion for the game,” Funderburk said. “That’s all that was. He felt a certain way about the game.”
After the technical, Keatts spent one timeout glaring at Cassell. He wasn’t about to let the topic go in the post-game.
N.C. State shot 41.4 percent while FSU was 40.7. Both teams attempted 19 3-pointers with N.C. State making one more (6). The rebounds were 39 to 34 in FSU’s favor and N.C. State had one more assist (9) than FSU.
“Look at the stat sheet, it’s identical,” Keatts said. “Percentage-wise and stops and there’s one thing that’s a big difference and it’s 29 and 13. You lose a six-point game and you wonder if the free throws were even, what would it be?”
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 8:52 PM.
