NC State dropped to 7-6 overall and 3-5 in ACC play after a 76-73 road loss to Syracuse Sunday night.

Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts answered questions from media members following the game.

Here is the full transcript from Keatts following the loss:

"I'm disappointed that we lost, but I'm proud of these guys. When you look at the fight that this team has and the adversity that we've had to go through just in the last four or five days.

"To come out and put ourselves in a position to win on the road in the ACC, I'm proud of our guys. We've went from obviously having an older team to where a lot of younger guys have to make plays, and our younger guys will get better. I thought our guys played well.

"When you look at our veteran guys, I couldn't have asked for more from Jericole [Hellems], who had a career-high, and then Manny [Bates] with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Those guys gave me everything they could.

"Then guys like Braxton Beverly and Thomas Allen, even though it doesn't reflect on the score sheet as much, they played well.

"We're young. When you look at the fact that we've got to play meaningful minutes from Cam Hayes, Shakeel Moore and Dereon Seabron, all of who are freshmen first-year players, I'm happy with where we're at. We got to go and continue to get better.

"We haven't had time really to adjust to playing without Devon [Daniels], so today was our first opportunity to see how these guys will respond. I thought we answered a lot of questions, now we just got to get back and build on it."

You had such a hot start offensively in the first half but went cold in the second. Was there a specific adjustment that Syracuse made defensively at halftime that caused that? What was your assessment on the differences in the second half?

"I think we missed shots. When you play against Syracuse's zone, you're either going to make them or you're not. We got some of the same looks, I just thought we didn't make those shots. Every shot that we took, I'm glad that my guys took it.

"I don't think it was anything that they did. We did a good job, Jericole did a good job in the middle of it, facilitating, making some plays. I know we had some turnovers that we normally wouldn't have, but the shots just didn't go down."

You’ve typically done a good job of picking apart the Syracuse zone. What was the game plan without your top two leading scorers today?

"I thought we did a great job. We were able to get the ball into the middle of the zone. What happens, when you play Syracuse, you have to have a great guy who's a playmaker in the middle. I thought Jericole Hellems did a great job of hitting Manny in the shill corner. He found some guys in the corner for some shots. We've been able to move the basketball around.

"It's unfortunate that we came out on the short end because I thought our guys played their butts off. You guys know this, with our circumstances, I don't think anybody outside of our locker room would have predicted that this was going to be a really good game to the stretch. But our guys believed, and those guys are going to get better."

Syracuse’s length on the perimeter looked like it gave you problems tonight. I know there’s a lot of talk about missing Devon Daniels on offense, but did you miss him particularly on defense tonight? Do you think that’s an area Dereon Seabron can help you?

"These guys just need playing time. Devon was playing a lot of minutes. Devon was a really good basketball player. We're going to miss him like. There's no reason for me to sit up here and say that we won't miss him in every area.

"Those guys, they're not Devon Daniels, they haven't played four years of college basketball. It's going to take them some time, but they're going to be good basketball players. The unfortunate thing for us is that they're getting thrown right in the mix during ACC play as opposed to getting those opportunities when we would have played non-conference.

"Their length is always great. They recruit length. They recruit length to their zone, and they do a great job. It's the best zone that you're going to play against."

Do you know if you’re going to have DJ Funderburk for the Virginia game Wednesday?

"I don't know the answer to that, there is no timeline. We're going to get back to school and deal with a couple of situations. That's all I can say about it."

Did you know that you weren’t going to have DJ when you went up there? We found out an hour before the game, but when did you know?

"I found out once we left. That's all I'm going to comment about it."

It seemed like Syracuse’s offensive struggles improved once Kadary Richmond replaced Joe Girard. What did your team have trouble defending with his size?

"I thought he did a great job. When you look at the other guys, they're more jump shooters and he's a paint-touch guy, and I thought he did a really good job of putting his head down, getting to the paint. He made some tough shots. I thought he did some good things.

"Our guys, for the most part, we defended pretty well in this game. We had a couple of breakdowns, certainly, if we could get back, it could be a different game. Richmond was good, he came in and had 14 points. That's a big lift for those guys."

Manny had a really productive game. How impressed were you with his play, particularly considering he had to be the number one guy tonight in the post?

"He was great. One of the things that we've talked about with Manny is, I want him to be able to rebound the basketball. I've been dying for one of these games where he has over 10, 11 or 12 rebounds.

"I know we're going to look at the stat sheet and say, 'He's 7-for-9 for 17 points.' I've seen that, and I know that he can do that. The next step in his development is to be an outstanding rebounder. I thought he took a big step today. That's a career-high.

"I've bragged the entire time about this young man getting better, and he is getting better. When you look at the numbers that he posted in 17 points and 14 rebounds, I thought he played well. I'm excited just to see his transformation and how he continues to grow."

You said you felt like some of the young guys answered some questions tonight. What were those questions entering this contest?

"When you look at Syracuse, their last couple games have been pretty lopsided here. They're played well. I look back at the Virginia Tech game, they played a tremendous game there.

"I didn't know what I didn't know coming in, knowing that we would have to play those three guys as many minutes and how would they respond in the situation. Would they fold or would they play?

"When you look at their stats, their stats are not going to pop out at you, but I thought all three of those guys gave us great minutes. Yes, did they make mistakes? Absolutely. Are they going to make mistakes? Absolutely. But they've got to grow up and they've got to grow fast, and I thought test one was pretty good for us."

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