Each time that fans see a tiny bit of hope for the NC State, they once again get crushed on the court. Just when many thought that the team was recovering from the 2 straight losses of last week, the Tar Heels again beat the Wolfpack. Fans and analysts are now wondering where exactly Kevin Keatts is leading the ACC team. Let’s see how people are receiving Kevin Keatts’ mentorship after the Tar Heels loss.

“Everyone’s not going to be a work of art,” said analyst Tim Donnelly on ESPN’s 99.9 The Fan podcast. He was talking about how we can’t expect the whole roster to perform their absolute best. “Every team is going to have a few- that was awkward [moment].. But the less of those you have, the better.. Right now NC State just has too many of them”, he added as he commented on Keatts’ team.

A lot of these awkward moments came because Senior Brandon Huntley Hatfield was missing after the shoulder injury that he suffered against Notre Dame. 

Although the match was a narrow loss, the Tar Heels gave the Wolfpack enough trouble just by out-rebounding them both ways. North Carolina flaunted an amazing team strategy with 17 assists in total. Meanwhile, the Pack struggled to keep up once the Tar Heels got an early lead. As Coach Keatts noted after the game, “We only came out of this game with seven assists. And most of those came in the second half. They didn’t come in the first.”

He also emphasized the need for better ball movement and fewer turnovers, particularly live-ball turnovers that led to easy baskets for UNC. Donnelly, though, claims there is another reason why the team hasn’t found success. “They still have not found the best way to use that roster.”

Ismael Diouf contributed four points, but his lack of experience led to Ben Middlebrooks leading most of the game. Even with Middlebrooks trying to do most for his team, there is only so much a guy can do. After getting his third foul in the second half, he had to play a little cautiously.

Meanwhile, Marcus Hill contributed the highest with 20 points while most of his teammates struggled to reach a double-digit. If points are this hard to come by, there might be some truth to what Donnelly pointed out. 

Losing a rivalry game has added much more to everyone’s already existing worries about the team. But what does Keatts have to say about the rivalry loss? Let’s see what he makes of the nail-biter game against the Tar Heels.

Kevin Keatts’ disappointment at the officials post-game

So the game is about to end and NC has the last chance to fight against their rival. Jayden Taylor rises for the layup through contact. The Tar Heels’ Jalen Washington swiftly slaps it away to seal their victory. However, the Wolfpack believed that what Washington did was, in fact, goaltending. Unfortunately, the referees did not share the same perspective.

After the game, Keatts opened up on his thoughts about the aforementioned event. “I was disappointed… They didn’t even at least review the last play,” said Keatts. According to the NCAA rules, goaltending is only retrospectively reviewed if the referee calls it a goal tend during live play. In this case, the officials did not call it a goal tend in real time.

The already troubled ACC team now looks at an even more challenging schedule ahead. The Duke Blue Devils wait for them in late January while a rematch with the rival Tar Heels is due in late February. For now, we will see the Pack take on Virginia Tech on Wednesday.