NC State advanced to 10-9 overall and 6-8 in ACC play after an 80-62road win over Wake Forest Saturday.

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

Here is the full transcript from Keatts following the win:

"I'm so proud of these guys. I don't have to tell you this, I don't have to go with the long story about the struggles that we've had. But when you're playing three freshmen for long, extended minutes, it's going to take those guys a little time to get better in our system and understand what we want.

"You look back two or three games ago, we were talking about 18, 19 and 20 turnovers. When you look at how we played today, we had 11 turnovers and 11 assists.

"I thought it was the best basketball, best team game we played. Five guys were in double figures. We had a couple guys, one guy had nine and one guy had eight points.

"Then give Dereon Seabron credit, I thought he played well. I thought he was energetic, he did a great job.

"Everybody that we put in the game affected the game in a positive way. I thought we took another big step towards maturing.

"I've told these guys to try to mature from half to half. We don't look at it from game to game, so I wanted to see how we would play from the end of the Pitt game to the beginning of the Wake, then Wake at halftime through the second half of Wake.

"Proud of these guys because we were able to get 28 points off turnovers. A lot of good things, and a lot of good things that we can build on."

What did you see from Dereon that made him so effective and how have you seen him grow?

"I've asked him to play with a little bit more grit, and a little more toughness. He's long, he's the closest that we have to a Devon Daniels, obviously in different ways. He's not as physical as Devon, doesn't shoot it as well as Devon, but he's the biggest guard that we have on our roster.

"We need him to be able to play. One of the reasons he hasn't played as much is because we need toughness from him, we need him to rebound the basketball. We need him to guard bigger guards, we need him to do a good job getting out in transition. He's starting to get it, he understands it.

"It's been a little frustrating with him because we put a lot of work into last year helping him become a good player, and honestly, he's a victim of what happened with COVID because he couldn't go to the ACC tournament. He was at home from basically March all the way until we could bring him to summer school, and he didn't have a chance really to work out. Now we're starting to see the guy that we thought that we were going to see early on in the year."

How much of a difference-maker is it when Cam Hayes shoots the three efficiently?

"These guys have seen these kids more in high school, and they're talented. In high school, Cam could make shots but he was more of a pull-up guy.

"Our coaches have done a good job with Cam, getting him in the gym working on his outside shot. He and Shak Moore. When he's making shots, he becomes a really good point guard for us because now he can drive the lane, he can make plays, he's able to step behind the three-point line and make shots.

"He's got great size as a point guard, and he's what you want in a point guard the ACC. I think his confidence is starting to grow in those areas."

How big was it to force 18 turnovers and produce 28 points off of those takeaways?

"It was big. It's frustrating to me as a coach when we don't turn people over. That's what my system is predicated on. It's been tough the last few games back because we were turning the ball over, and there's nothing like thinking you're good at something then somebody else is beating you at your own game. We got better.

"Our team is much better when we're creating off of our defense, and I thought we were great tonight. With those guys, we made them play a lot of one-on-one basketball. When you look at it, they had eight assists and 19 turnovers because our defense was special. We did a good job.

"Our deflections were high, I don't know how many we had for the game, but I know at halftime we had 25 and we try to get 40. We're a much better team when we're more active getting deflections and getting into the passing lanes."

A couple of weeks ago you were asking for just one of your guards to step up in the scoring category. Today you had five guys in double figures and two more with at least eight points. How good did it feel to get that kind of balance in scoring production?

"I had to be patient. Probably like I wish everybody else could be because of the fact that these young guys, it's going to take some time. As I've maintained, these guys will be really good basketball players.

"Of all people, we've had to shift the way we play. Our focus has now become we're more of an inside-out team, but while we're going inside-out, our young guys are starting to get better on the perimeter. When we have two or three guards that play well on a given night, we're capable of this outcome. When we don't, when we have one, they're probably going to be a lot closer games, and they're going to be nail-biters.

"When you get your bigs playing well like they're playing, and then we get a couple of guards who are contributing the way we had these guards play today, then we could be a really good basketball team. We'll be tough to beat if those guys play that way."

Do you tell Dereon Seabron to keep playing aggressive when he comes out and plays the way he did today?

"When we had C.J. Bryce and Devon Daniels, those guys set out. So they were able to play against guys like Al Freeman every day and veteran guards. When you look at what Seabron went through last year, he played against Devon Daniels, Markell Johnson and C.J. Bryce. He was getting to be aggressive, he's not an aggressive kid to start out with.

"Honestly, the only good answer to it is, when we traveled because he was an academic redshirt, he couldn't go to the ACC tournament. When we left him at home, we didn't see him again until June, July. Then we had to rely on the fact that he was doing all the right stuff at home, and you know how that goes.

"We've asked him to get back to being aggressive. A lot of that's going to help him when he continues to get into the weight room and adds about 15 pounds of muscle.

"He's different because he's long, he's athletic, he can handle the basketball. Right now, he's not shooting it great behind the three-point line but he can bring so much to our team, especially when he plays with toughness. When he doesn't, then we have to get somebody else to play those minutes.

"I like the way he played today. I've been around this program a long time, I'm not going to say this is a breakout game because anything can happen next, but I thought he played a really good game."

Since the Duke game, you’ve won two straight on the road. Was there a turning point since the Duke game that have helped you sort of turn that corner?

"We've asked everybody to play to their strengths. I thought everybody was trying to make up for one player, and everybody was trying to do too much. We talked about not turning the ball over, playing to our strengths.

"The Duke game was weird because I don't think we played as bad as people think. I think Matthew Hurt was really good. When you look at the rest of the roster, I thought we did a tremendous job. I thought we forced a lot of things, and guys were trying to do things that they couldn't do, then you ended up with a lopsided result.

"That being said, it gave us a chance to humble ourselves. We had not had a game that we lost like we lost to Duke other than the Florida State game, and it showed me that our guys had a sense of pride. They've come back and fought since that point."

How important has Braxton Beverly been this season, not just when he produces like he did today but as a mentor for some of the freshmen guards?

"I can't say enough about that kid. He doesn't practice but not because he doesn't want to. I let him get a few reps yesterday, and I'm looking over there and he can't go anymore. I'm saying, 'Can you go?' And I think the trainer yelled at him, 'No,' but he's saying, 'Yeah, I can.'

"He's been a great mentor for those guys. Coming off the bench as a senior, you would think he would be pouting. He understands the situation that we're in, and he's doing everything he can to help our team win, whether it's in the locker room, whether it's coming on the court.

"And honestly, he's come in, in the last couple of games, and made a big difference. He's made some timely shots, some big shots. He's starting to work out for us, but I can't say enough about that kid.

"He's been the guy who's been celebrated because he's been here for so long, and he's been a punching bag for a lot of people for so long. But at the end of the day, the kid does what he needs to do to help his team win."

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