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NC State head coach Kevin Keatts has been no stranger in wanting to send in five reserves at once this season.

Keatts has subbed “five-for-five” in several games against opponents who don’t have the talent level of the Wolfpack. What started off as innocently continuing that trend Saturday against South Carolina-Upstate, quickly became more of a message substitution pattern. Some of NC State’s starters quickly found seats on the bench, with three of them — star junior point guard Markell Johnson, sophomore guard Braxton Beverly and fifth-year senior wing Torin Dorn — playing less than 14 minutes in the contest.

The NC State reserves combined for 62 points in leading the Wolfpack to a 98-71 win over South Carolina-Upstate, improving to 11-1. NCSU hosts 4-8 Loyola (Md.) on Dec. 28.

“The five guys that I didn’t start obviously played tremendous,” Keatts said. “This is what you call team. I put together a roster with 10 guys who I feel comfortable where I can play all 10 guys.

“I have tried to create a culture where it doesn’t matter who gets the credit. We all get the credit.”

The reserves inherited a 10-7 lead when the five first came in and extended the lead to 23-10 with 11:23 left in the first half. NCSU starters finally hit its stride over the last 4:09 of the first half, giving the Wolfpack a 50-32 halftime lead.

Keatts elected to start his reserves in the second half, and they more than delivered. Fifth-year senior wing Eric Lockett scored a team-high 15 points, and redshirt sophomore center DJ Funderburk, redshirt sophomore wing Devon Daniels and freshman forward Jericole Hellems all had 13 points off the bench. Sophomore point guard Blake Harris chipped in eight points and eight assists.

Funderburk pointed out that the main issues were energy-related, particularly on the defensive end.

“It shows that if you ever become a starter, don’t come out lackadaisical,” Funderburk said. “He didn’t really like that too much [the slow start]. We pick our teammates up. When they got back in there, they made the best of their opportunity.”

Keatts claimed he never yelled at the team — particularly the starters — during halftime.

“It wasn’t a message but I thought the other guys were playing better,” Keatts said. “Those guys who started the game, they are starting for a reason and have carried us the majority of these games.

“I thought the other five guys played better. It was hard to keep the other guys off the floor.”

Lockett responded Saturday exactly the way Keatts would hope a veteran would respond. Lockett had received the dreaded “did not play — coaches decision” in the big win over Auburn on Wednesday.

Instead of sulking over his diminished role, Lockett responded with some good practices and he made 3 of 3 on three-pointers for 15 points, plus eight rebounds against South Carolina-Upstate.

“I just have to stay ready for when my name was called,” Lockett said. “I just have to do what I can do when I get on the court.

“I always want to play. I can say I had a little more fire to me today.”

Lockett said he didn’t need to talk to Keatts about his role, instead he just went to work. The Florida International graduate transfer topped his previous NC State career-high of 11 points against Saint Peter’s on Nov. 20.

“Give Eric Lockett credit,” Keatts said. “Crazy coach myself, I didn’t even play the guy last game. He came in and played well. He didn’t pout and had a couple of good days of practice.

“He made me look like a bad coach. He’s a veteran guy and has played a lot of games.”

NC State wraps up the non-conference slate against Loyola (Md.) and then plays at Miami on Jan. 3 to kick-start the ACC schedule. The Wolfpack also hope to enter the top 25 polls coming up.

“I think we are in a really good spot,” Lockett said. “We beat a really good team in Auburn. We are playing well and I’m definitely ready to play that last game and get into conference.”

Funderburk topped 10-plus points for the fifth time this season, netting 13 points in just 19 minutes of action. The Cleveland, Ohio, native was in good spirits after the game and joked about something he has been dealing with for most of his life.

Funderburk said one of his first basketball jerseys had his name spelled “Funderburke” on the back of it, and that confusion over the spelling of his name has lead to an unlikely linking to another well known basketball player from Ohio.

“I’ve been getting that since the third grade,” Funderburk said. “In fourth and fifth grade, when I was playing my first year in AAU, they had my name spelled wrong. The coach didn’t even ask. He just put the ‘e’ on the end. I think I still have that jersey too.”

Lawrence Funderburke was one of the top 10 players in the country coming out of Columbus, Ohio, in the class of 1989. He signed with Indiana, but didn’t hit his stride until coming back home to Ohio State. He went to play in the NBA from 1997-2005, and in the process made his last name relatively well known in his home state.

Derek “DJ” Funderburk routinely heard the question of “Are you the son of Lawrence Funderburke?” while growing up. Then it intensified when he signed with Ohio State out of high school. The comparison still comes up every now and then after settling in at NC State.

“It’s funny because I actually met him and asked him the same question my freshman year,” Funderburk said. “I didn’t ask him that [if they were related]. I asked ‘Have people been asking you if you are related to me?’ He said that by being in Ohio, he knew about me. He didn’t know who I was.”

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