NC State's Kevin Keatts ejected after rapid-fire pair of technical fouls in 1st half vs. Wake Forest

NC State head men’s basketball coach Kevin Keatts was already heated with the officials for much of the first half of a home game vs. Wake Forest on Tuesday night. Then when a call was apparently missed that would’ve sent the Wolfpack to the free throw line, Keatts blew his top.

With play still going, he ran on to the court in anger, protesting the no-call and getting hit with a technical foul for the outburst. As referee Jeffrey Anderson went to the scorers table to explain the technical, Keatts kept jawing.

And Anderson had a quick trigger for the second technical on Keatts, resulting in his ejection.

Respect the high knees or hit the showers pic.twitter.com/4DgWsnEOsn

— Jeffrey Anderson Fan Account (@highkneesref) January 17, 2024

His ire was drawn when guard Dennis Parker Jr. was met at the rim by Demon Deacons forward Matthew Marsh. The officials didn’t call a foul for contact that the head coach felt was a foul.

And even after he was ejected, Keatts kept at Anderson, getting his money’s worth before marshaling his team in the huddle one last time before walking off.

Keatts was ejected with 3:32 remaining in the first half and Wake Forest lead, 35-29. The score at halftime was 45-35, Demon Deacons.

Keatts’ ejection wasn’t the lone boiling point on Tuesday

After leading his team to a come-from-behind win at home over Wake Forest in an intense conference matchup, NC State guard DJ Horne was caught in a bad moment on camera.

During a stoppage with 2.2 seconds left and the Wolfpack leading the Demon Deacons, 81-76, after trailing for most of the night, Horne flipped up both middle fingers toward someone. While it wasn’t toward the ACC Network cameras, they caught his double bird on the broadcast.

Shortly before, the game had peaked in intensity when a confrontation between both teams on the court after an and-1 play resulted in some late game technicals and ejections.

Don’t forget this gem to wrap the game up 😂 pic.twitter.com/pkhQd8noql

— Chris (@TarHeelFan473) January 17, 2024

NC State held on to win, 83-76. Horne starred for the home team, pouring in a team-high 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting. He also added three rebounds, and a pair of assists and steals. Horne was also instrumental in NC State coming back late in the game to win. With the win, the Wolfpack move to 5-1 in the ACC and 13-4 on the season so far.

But the abiding memory of the game might be his double bird caught on camera. Mostly harmless, but certainly not one to be lived down any time soon.