NC State coach Kevin Keatts knows upsets are the norm in today’s college basketball, and that was never more evident Thursday night.
Rutgers shocked No. 1-ranked Purdue on a halfcourt shot Thursday. Whether the Boilermakers will show up angrier or to play better Sunday in Brooklyn, N.Y., remains to be seen, but it does add some spice to the matchup. It also proves that Purdue can be defeated just like anyone else.
“Give Rutgers credit,” Keatts said. “That was a great win at home. They did a tremendous job. They beat a really good basketball team. Probably, the best one I’ve seen in this early season so far.”
Rutgers shot 52.1 percent from the field and went 7 of 14 on three-pointers in the 70-68 victory.
“Rutgers was extremely physical,” Keatts said. “It was one of the most physical games I’ve watched. One of the things it comes down to how the referees will call the game. It was a great game and a great home-court environment. The fans and student-body were excited about playing the No. 1 team.”
Prior to Rutgers, Purdue had defeated the likes of North Carolina, Villanova, Florida State and Iowa to earn the lofty ranking.
“Regardless if they won or loss, it’s still a really good basketball team,” Keatts said. “They are as talented a team as I’ve seen all year.
“Last night, I was up late last night and early this morning, and watched a lot of film on those guys. They are a special team. They are almost two-deep at every position.”
Keatts has also had to think long and hard to his approach to guarding sophomore center Zach Edey and senior center Trevion Williams. The listed 7-foot-4, 295-pound Edey is averaging 15.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 18.2 minutes per game. The 6-10, 255-pound Williams is averaging 13.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game.
“The two centers, both of them could average 20 points per game if they played on separate teams,” Keatts said. “It would be a big challenge if [injured center] Manny [Bates] was playing. Unfortunately, we know he’s not. It has to to be a team effort [to rebound].”
Keatts hopes to have junior wing Casey Morsell back Sunday. He will be a game-time decision due to a sprained ankle. He won’t have power forward Greg Gantt for at least another month it appears. The Providence transfer suffered a sports hernia injury this past summer.
“If maybe he [Gantt] is going to return, it’s probably going to be somewhere from mid-to-late January,” Keatts said. “I’m not saying that is going to happen. We’ll look at him and evaluate him at that time. He is getting into practice a little bit more.
“Casey will be another game-time decision. I hope he will be available. We put him through warm-ups [before Bethune-Cookman], and I thought he looked decent at times during warm-ups. Then he came down a little funny on it.”
With Morsell still working his way back, it will put more of an onus for sophomore point guard Cam Hayes to bounce back from the Bethune-Cookman win. He went 1 of 10 from the field and missed all three three-point attempts en route to six points, plus three assists.
“I thought Cam last night had one of his worst games as far as shooting the basketball,” Keatts said. “Hopefully, he won’t have many more awful games like that.
“For whatever reason, his shot just wouldn’t go.”
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