NC State basketball continues turnaround: ‘We had the sniffles and we needed to get well.’
N.C. State’s D.J. Burns said the message from Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts was short but often repeated Saturday.
“Coach said, ‘We’ve lost a game, we sick and we need to get well,’ ” Burns said after the No. 22 Wolfpack had dismantled Boston College 92-62 at Conte Forum.
But Keatts didn’t just say that in the locker room before the ACC road game.
“Before, during, the entire time,” Burns said. “He said, ‘Keep going at ‘em, don’t let up, we need to get well.’ ”
Told later what Burns said, Keatts smiled.
“We had the sniffles and we needed to get well,” he said.
Losing a game at Virginia on Tuesday was disappointing, but hardly disheartening for the Pack, Keatts said, adding, “No one should ever apologize for losing at Virginia.”
The Cavaliers, ranked No. 8, have sent many ACC teams away from John Paul Jones Arena with hard-to-digest losses — including Duke on Saturday.
But one thing was clear at BC: Keatts, who constantly works the sideline in front of the bench, his seat rarely needed, was super intense and demanding, his voice easily heard at Conte Forum, for 40 minutes.
The Pack responded just as he hoped — with intensity and game-long focus. The 30-point win was the third-largest margin of victory in an ACC road game in N.C. State basketball history.
BC coach Earl Grant said the Eagles ran into a “buzzsaw” Saturday as the Pack’s Jarkel Joiner (26 points), Terquavion Smith (17) and Casey Morsell (16) knocked down a flurry of jumpers — NCSU was 15 of 30 on 3-pointers — and Burns put together a double-double (18 points, 10 boards) despite first-half foul trouble.
A year after going 11-21 and finishing last in the ACC with a 4-16 league record, with a home loss to Boston College, the Wolfpack won its 20th game Saturday and secured a 10th ACC win.
If the Wolfpack program was “sick,” it has gotten “well.” There have been a few “sniffles” along the way for the Pack (20-6, 10-5 ACC), but it has been a team that has turned heads and invigorated its fan base., a team that enjoys playing together. And it shows.
“That’s huge, man, and we’re still fighting,” Joiner said. “That’s big time, 20 wins. First time in my college career I got 20 wins. First time ever been ranked with a college team.”
Keatts used the NCAA transfer portal after last season to bring in Joiner from Ole Miss and Burns from Winthrop, both graduates — and forward Jack Clark, who returned from injury to play Saturday for the first time since Dec. 30 at Clemson.
“You’ve got to give Keatts credit for flipping that team that quick,” BC’s Grant said. “They look like a really good team.”
Not that Keatts wanted to dwell on all that too much after the game. The rowdiest celebration was for Smith, a sophomore, reaching 1,000 career points.
“It’s a great win but we didn’t set out to say, ‘We want to win 20,’ ” Keatts said. “I’m so happy. I know a lot of people put a lot into winning 20, and I’m not downplaying it, but it’s for my players. Those are the guys who have done the heavy lifting.
“Twenty wins and 10 conference wins, that’s a really, really elite accomplishment for those guys, and we just want to continue to build on it.”
For the Pack, it’s on to Syracuse. The team did not return to Raleigh after Saturday’s game, but planned to stay in Boston, practice and fly on to face the Orange on Tuesday.
And the sniffles?
“The sniffles are gone,” Keatts said, smiling again.
This story was originally published February 12, 2023 at 10:37 AM.
