NC State head coach Kevin Keatts had a good discussion with sophomore forward Jericole Hellems and it home for the St. Louis native.

Hellems hadn’t been playing poorly by any means. He entered Saturday’s game against Little Rock averaging 10.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 27.0 minutes per game, all career highs.

The 6-7, 205-pounder needed to concentrate in a few different areas.

What Keatts didn’t expect was for Hellems to have a career-high six assists, and he could have had a couple more if his teammates had finished the play. Hellems entered the game with zero assists in the Wolfpack's (5-1) first five games.

“It has always been in my game, but I was worried about the wrong things the past few games,” Hellems said. “I was worried about scoring too much. Coach just told me to let my game come to me. That is what I’ve been doing.”

Keatts is OK if Hellems doesn’t end up being a point forward for the Wolfpack, but he’s good with him having seven points, six rebounds, four steals and the much-discussed six assists.

“I give a lot of credit to Jericole, and he was active today,” Keatts said. “He and I talked about him being a better player as far as rebounding the basketball.

“Don’t get used to that [Hellems passing]. He is never going to pass.”

Keatts joked that he told the team that Hellems had a career high with two assists, and the players believed him. His previous career high was four against Loyola Maryland last year.

“Everybody was happy, he actually had six,” Keatts said. “That just tells you he doesn’t pass the ball. I don’t need him to pass the ball. I need him to rebound the basketball, especially at that position.”

The smallest player on the court also had the biggest struggle to get untracked for the Trojans.

NC State aimed its defensive game plan to slow down sophomore point guard Markquis Nowell, who entered the contest averaging 20.2 points and 5.2 assists per game. Mission accomplished for the Wolfpack.

"Coach made that an emphasis," NCSU fifth-year senior wing C.J. Bryce said. "We knew coming in, we knew he was a very big scorer."

Nowell didn’t have a basket until there was 17:38 left in the game. He shot 3 of 11 from the field overall, missed all three three-point field goal attempts. He finished with eight points, six assists and six rebounds.

“We concentrated what we wanted to do with the little [5-foot-7] guard, who was coming in averaging 20 points a game," Keatts said. "He was a focal point of our defense.”

The focus on Nowell might have freed up junior center Ruot Monyyong and redshirt junior small forward Ben Coupet to have impressive games — they combined to shoot 17 of 27 from the field en route to 41 points and 14 rebounds — but the Trojans only made four three-point field goals, which has been an emphasis for NC State.

“I think we are a very good defensive team when we want to be,” Keatts said. “When we lock down and concentrate and lock in with the scouting reports, we’ve got some older guys that have been doing it a while. We can be really good on the defensive end.”

NC State has always known the Memphis game is looming, but now it’s upon the Wolfpack. NC State battles No. 16-ranked Memphis (5-1) at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Memphis pulled out an 87-86 win over Mississippi on Saturday, adjusting to playing without freshman center James Wiseman, who is suspended. Wiseman, who won’t play against NC State, is projected to be a top-five pick in the 2020 NBA Draft next June.

NC State hopes to get a much-needed NCAA Tournament résumé victory, and that will help make up for falling 82-81 in overtime to Georgia Tech in the season opener Nov. 5. The difference against Memphis is that senior point guard Markell Johnson and redshirt junior center D.J. Funderburk will both be playing Thursday, after missing the Yellow Jackets game.

“I feel like we have gotten better,” Keatts said. “I think each step of the way, each game, we’ve gotten a little better in a lot of areas. We are starting to get out in transition a little bit better. We are sharing the ball more.”

Keatts fully expects fifth-year senior center Danny Dixon to be back healthy (sore foot) for the Memphis, giving him nine guys for the rotation. NCSU continues to play without injured redshirt sophomore forward A.J. Taylor.

“I don’t think it is a concern because everybody knows that they’ll play,” Keatts said of the eight-player rotation. “Some of my better teams in the past only played eight.

“The ability to add Danny back will give me the ability to play D.J. at the four at times. We’ll go to nine players.”

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