NC State had its opportunity Friday, but the efficiency of Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner snatched it away.
Kalkbrenner went 11 of 14 from the field and 8 of 9 at the free-throw line to finish with a team-high 31 points in a 73-63 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Denver, Colo. Just as importantly, he also caused NC State centers D.J. Burns and Ebenezer Dowuona to get into foul trouble and they combined for just four points. In a game where the tempo was fast and furious and a lot of three-pointers, which mostly didn’t go in, the center position battle loomed large.
Creighton improved to 22-12 overall and will play Baylor on Sunday.
“He [Burns] certainly never got into a flow,” Keatts said. “I thought their big was tremendous. We fronted him and we played behind him. They found him and he made shots.”
NC State finished the season 23-10, but couldn’t snap its NCAA Tournament drought. NCSU’s last NCAA Tournament win was against Villanova 71-68 on March 21, 2015. Keatts fell to 0-4 in the Big Dance between NC State and North Carolina-Wilmington.
NC State sophomore shooting guard Terquavion Smith started the game with two fouls in the first 105 seconds. Normally, Keatts takes out his players with two fouls in the first half, but it was win or go home, and he gambled on Smith.
The move paid off and he had 14 points in 14 minutes in the first half. The problem was that the rest of the Wolfpack weren’t in rhythm, going a combined 4 of 18 from the field and no player recorded a first-half assist or made a three-point shot.
Fortunately for NC State, Creighton only led 28-26 at halftime, due in part to the Bluejays shooting a surprisingly abysmal 1 of 13 from beyond the arc.
“If I am going to go down, I wasn’t going have him [Smith] sitting on the bench with two fouls,” Keatts said.
NC State had its chance to make a move when Smith drained a three-pointer, followed by redshirt junior Jack Clark hit a top of the key three-pointer to cut the Creighton lead to 56-53 with 5:42 left in the game.
Creighton shot just 3 of 20 on three-pointers for the game, but Baylor Scheierman drained a big one to beat the shot clock to stretch the Bluejays’ lead to 65-59 with 2:23 left. That proved to be the dagger.
“Every time we made a run, they made a run, and they obviously made some plays down the stretch,” Keatts said.
Smith finished with 32 points on 12 of 27 shooting, and added 7 of 9 at the free-throw line. It remains to be seen if this proves to be Smith’s last game at NC State, or if he’ll bypass the NBA Draft for a second straight offseason.
“I am just blessed that I got to play with the group of guys that I got to play with,” Smith said. “I am glad that I have the coaches I have and the staff that I have. I am glad that I chose NC State.”
Creighton coach Greg McDermott knew Smith would get his points, but wanted to limit the other Wolfpack players. He pointed out that Smith also missed more than half his shots.
“Today especially defensively I thought a lot of what Smith got was difficult, but everybody else we did a terrific job on and took a very explosive offensive team and ran them off the three-point line,” McDermott said.
In the big picture, the changes in the coaching staff and the additions in the transfer portal helped NC State go from 11-21 overall and last place in the ACC, to back in the NCAA Tournament. Keatts and the program currently have one scholarship available for next year, but that could get ear-marked by the healthy return of center Dusan Mahorcic, who was limited to 10 games this season.
“I am super proud of my team,” Keatts said. “When you look at where we were last year, to where we are at now, and how hard our guys worked, what a season we had with 23 wins. Our guys played their butts off.”
Smith’s decision looms large, and assuming a scholarship becomes free, landing a point guard to replace Jarkel Joiner in the portal will be of utmost importance.
Keatts has talked in the past about how last year had humbled him, but the gravity of playing in the NCAA Tournament led to stronger feelings on the subject Friday.
“What you guys don't understand, it's a lot of hard works that goes into winning,” Keatts said. “Winning is not easy. At some point in my career I thought winning was very easy because I was comfortable and we won.
“When we had the year last year, I realized that it's not given to you, it's earned, and you've got to earn, you've got to work.”
Keatts acknowledged that NCSU athletic director Boo Corrigan pushed him to make adjustments.
“I had Boo push me to look at everything,” Keatts said. “I had Chancellor [Randy] Woodson's support, had both of those guys' support. I wanted to make sure that I went out and I made some positive changes. The most positive change was probably in myself, looking at myself in a different way that I've never looked at myself.”
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