NC State basketball again has the will to find a way to win, and win over more doubters
In the NCAA Tournament, with so much at stake each game, it often can be a test of wills as much as coaching strategies or defensive changes or making a clutch shot.
There are times when a team sits in the huddle, the players quietly eyeing one another as they listen to their head coach, and they know that, feel that.
Someone is going to win this game and it’s going to be us. We will find a way to make it happen.
“I mean, there’s a national championship on the line and you’ve got to find it, even if you have to dig deep to find it,” Wolfpack guard Jayden Taylor said.
So it went Saturday for N.C. State in its 79-73 overtime victory over Oakland at PPG Paints Arena.
After 40 minutes, it was 66-66. The Pack had made a defensive stop on Oakland’s final possession of regulation and Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts gathered his team together before overtime.
“All I said was there’s no need to panic,” Keatts said. “One of the things we said was just to stay even keel and make plays.”
No loud, inspirational words to send out the guys for OT?
“All he said was, ‘It’s zero-zero and we’ve been here before,’” Taylor said. “That was it, I mean, we won against Virginia in overtime in the ACC Tournament. We were ready for it again, and it showed.
“We knew we were going to win. I mean, we’ve still got that chip on our shoulder, still have the motivation to prove people wrong. I mean, we’ve won seven in a row when nobody thought we would do anything.”
An inside basket by D.J. Burns gave the Pack the lead in overtime. Burns scored again after a missed Taylor 3-pointer hit the the rim and fell into his hands under the basket, and a jumper by D.J. Horne after a shot fake pushed the lead to three.
With the Pack ahead 72-70, Taylor did not hesitate in taking a 3 from the right corner as the Golden Grizzlies double-teamed Burns with the ball. He had missed four of his five shots from 3, missed that one in OT, but did not hesitate after the pass from Burns.
Boom.
N.C. State 75, Oakland 70, with 1:13 left in overtime.
Taylor’s 3-pointer had Oakland coach Greg Kampe dropping his head to his chest, as if sensing the outcome.
“I mean, you’ve got to have confidence,” Taylor said. “I know I can shoot the ball. That one happened to go in. Thank God.”
Jack Gohlke, the Golden Grizzlies’ 3-point maestro, missed a 3 under pressure and Horne was soon at the foul line again, knocking in two free throws to make it a 77-70 lead and more or less seal it. Two more by Burns and that was that as Michael O’Connell joyously heaved the ball high in the air as time ran out.
It was time to celebrate, again. The ACC champions (24-14) are now Sweet 16-bound. It’s on to Dallas and a Friday game against Marquette (27-9).
“We talking about creating life memories,” Taylor said.
The Wolfpack has done that the past two weeks. There was Washington and then there was Pittsburgh and Dallas awaits.
Again, Keatts sat in a coaches’ office after the game with his wife, Georgette. Imagine all that has happened in their lives the past two weeks.
Keatts has earned a contract extension. He has earned bonus pay.
“I’m happy because the frustration was about the negativity that was about the team,” Keatts said. “I don’t care about myself. I’ve been doing this for a long time, but we’ve got some good kids in that locker room that fight every day. And we didn’t have a bad year. We ended up with 17 wins.
“But just the negativity. ... I’m going to always defend my kids. I’m old enough to know it’s college basketball and people are going to talk trash about the coach. That’s everywhere. At the end of the day, my only disappointment was that stuff was directed at our players, and some were direct messaging our players and saying stuff that just wasn’t appropriate.
“So I’m happy for these guys because they handled it in a professional way and we did our talking on the court. And it made us stronger as a group.”
Burns did have one thing to say off the court and after the game about those Wolfpack fans who were doubters.
“I’m just saying, ‘Welcome back,’” Burns said. “They didn’t really believe in us. They probably still don’t, but that doesn’t matter to us. We’re just going to stay together.
“If you’re supporting us, thank you. If not, that’s what it is.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
