Tough enough? No, NC State wasn’t in home loss to UNC, Kevin Keatts says.
N.C. State has a toughness problem.
That was Kevin Keatts’ assessment of Monday’s 75-65 home loss to a struggling North Carolina team.
“I thought we lost the game with mental and physical toughness inside the paint,” Keatts said.
UNC (10-10, 3-6 ACC) forwards Garrison Brooks (25 points, 11 rebounds) and Armando Bacot (11 points, 11 rebounds) were the difference for the Tar Heels, who have floundered so much this season that Monday’s setback actually counted as “Quadrant 3” loss by the NET rankings.
On the flip side, it was a “Q1” win for the Tar Heels, who played loose and free as 6-point underdogs.
“We’ve got to get tougher,” Keatts said after his team’s second straight loss.
But how do you fix toughness? Is that a trait that can be fixed? In midseason? To paraphrase the old Louis Jordan song, “either you is or you ain’t” tough.
Forward D.J. Funderburk, who had a team-high 18 points and eight rebounds, was N.C. State’s best player. Daniels gave him some help (17 points, six rebounds) but there was something missing, Funderburk said.
“We weren’t focused and we weren’t locked in,” Funderburk said.
And then he offered an even more sobering explanation than his coach’s.
“We didn’t really show too much effort out there, to be honest with you,” Funderburk said. “I think that was the biggest thing for us — effort.”
That’s about the last thing you would expect from N.C. State in a home game with UNC. Even N.C. State’s worst teams have been able to summon the energy for the annual home date with the Tar Heels.
Cole Anthony still out, CJ Bryce doesn’t score
Even though the Tar Heels are down this season, they’re not dead. Williams once famously said he’d rather “beat State than eat.” He hasn’t missed too many meals in his 16-year tenure in Chapel Hill.
UNC star guard Cole Anthony didn’t make his dramatic return, as so many Wolfpack fans had anticipated, but the Tar Heels didn’t need the freshman. They had Brooks, who made 11 of 20 shots, and did his best Luke Maye impersonation.
UNC also had a hodgepodge of supporting characters, who had struggled until Monday to find their niche. Guards Andrew Platek and K.J. Smith combined for 10 points. Grad transfers Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce worked together for seven in a key stretch in the second half when N.C. State had cut into a double-digit lead.
The collective effort was noticeable for UNC, especially compared to N.C. State. Senior guard Markell Johnson had six assists and scored 12 points but needed 19 shots (and made only six).
That was 12 more points than senior guard C.J. Bryce, the team’s leading scorer on the season, has scored in the past two games. Combined. Bryce was 0 for 8 in 26 minutes. He had five rebounds and two assists but that was hardly enough to offset the scoring no-show.
“I just have to get back to the gym and get back to work and get ready,” Bryce said. “That’s really it.”
Bryce only took four shots in Saturday’s loss at Georgia Tech, so there was progress on one front.
“It would be OK if I wasn’t scoring and we were winning games but we’re losing right now,” Bryce said.
NC State needs to fix toughness issues
N.C. State’s not built to win without Bryce or Johnson or Funderburk or Daniels or ... get the picture?
“We still know that we’re a really good team and we have a lot of talent,” Bryce said. “We just have to capitalize down the stretch better.”
Keatts said he only has two or three players going at the requisite level to win ACC games. This after a three-game streak where it looked like the Wolfpack had turned that very corner.
“We don’t have three or four or five, which we need to in order to be successful,” Keatts said.
Halfway through the ACC schedule, N.C. State finds itself at an even 5-5 but that was against the weaker portion of its conference slate.
Duke (twice), Florida State (home), Louisville (home) and Syracuse (road) are all “Q1” games. There are no layups in the other five games, either.
“We’ve got to fix our issues of mental and physical toughness, if we want to win those games,” Keatts said. “That’s what it’s going to come down to.”
Either you is or you ain’t?
If Keatts can fix the seemingly unfixable, he’ll know the answer soon enough.
This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 11:21 PM with the headline "Tough enough? No, NC State wasn’t in home loss to UNC, Kevin Keatts says.."
