NC State has dropped 3 straight tight games, where does it go from here?

It took just over 30 minutes from when the game ended for NC State’s locker room to open for its postgame media availability. Once the wooden door was ajar, the Wolfpack had a somber mood in its newly-renovated dressing room. 

The Pack dropped its third straight game in the 65-62 loss to Cal on Saturday evening at the Lenovo Center. While the losing streak in itself would sting, the trio of defeats have come via a combined 8 points. 

A 63-61 result to North Carolina on Jan. 11 kicked it off before the Wolfpack squandered a 15-point lead at Virginia Tech, a 79-76 loss, and Cal handed NC State its most recent tight defeat.  

NC State has been in the game in each of the three losses, but through all of them, it hasn’t been able to close it out. While all three took different shapes to get to the end, the games do have recurring themes as to why the Wolfpack can’t finish. 

That’s what has made it frustrating for the team, which just two months ago raised a pair of banners for its miraculous run to the Final Four a year ago. 

“It’s definitely tough, for sure. Any time you’re losing these games, especially close games like this, it hurts,” senior center Ben Middlebrooks said. “It’s hard to fight back from. … We know the mistakes we’re making, it’s disappointing they continue to happen.”

So what’s the same? The Wolfpack has been out hustled to 50-50 balls, while ball screens have caused fits for the team’s defense in crunch time. NC State has been outrebounded in all three, including 22 second-chance points given up at Virginia Tech and 12 offensive rebounds conceded to Cal. 

NC State could take a moral victory since it hasn’t been blown out since Wake Forest handed the team an 18-point loss on Jan. 4. But the one-possession defeats appear to sting even more. 

For Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts, it’s tough because a lot of the issues are a byproduct of NC State’s own doing.

“We’ve gotta figure out how to clean up our mess,” Keatts said. “It’s funny, our mess is our mess. I wish I could look at you guys and say these teams are beating us. I think some of them are playing well and some of that has to do with what we’re not doing or got to do better.”

NC State has a week in between the 3-point loss to Cal and its next game, a home date with SMU, who beat Miami 117-74 on Saturday. The road doesn’t get any easier after that with a road trip to No. 3 Duke before Clemson and then the Wolfpack’s trip to California to play at Stanford and Cal. 

How will the Wolfpack look to improve itself between now and when it hits the hardwood for another ACC clash? The coaching staff will watch the film to diagnose what’s going wrong on the court, but Keatts’ priority appears to be what is happening inside his player’s heads. 

“Toughness is what we’re going to preach,” Keatts said. “That’s not winning the physical battles, it’s mentally tough. If you miss a shot, that’s OK. You gotta get back and play some great defense and not let that affect you as you go along in the game.”

The Wolfpack, which has logged misses in key opportunities in all three losses, wants to get its players to stop sulking after the ball clanks off the rim. Keatts said he can see the dejection in some of his players’ faces after a miss. He wants his players to put the team before themselves when it comes to the scoring column. 

It’s not that the Pack isn’t trying, Keatts noted, but the individual disappointment from possession to possession has gotten in the team’s way.  

“We’re playing as hard as we can play,” Keatts said, “we’re just not playing as smart as we can play.”

In addition to that, Keatts noted he’s looking for leadership. The Wolfpack, which had a nearly silent locker room once it was open to the media after its defeat from the Golden Bears, needs its veterans to rise to the occasion. 

“We’ve got great kids — the good and bad about it,” Keatts said. “Do I have leaders in that locker room? Yes. But I need more. I need Ben Middlebrooks to be a leader, I need Michael [O’Connell] to step up.”

Keatts added that it’s tough in this era of the transfer portal with five experienced players on the roster that don’t feel as though they’ve been at NC State long enough to speak up. That makes his five returning players, all of which were a part of the Final Four run, to lean on that experience as the Pack prepares for the final 13 games of ACC play. 

NC State faced adversity during that stretch, and the Wolfpack hopes it can use those bumps to push through to the end of the regular season this time around. 

“You can’t let these games hold you back and carry on,” Middlebrooks said. “It’s tough to do. It’s easy to say that, but we’re going to have to try to figure that out.”

So, yeah. NC State has a lot on its plate for the next seven days before it plays SMU inside the Lenovo Center. It won’t be easy, but the Pack seems determined to attempt to clean up its mistakes. 

Keatts, a self-described “fixer,” is tasked with helping change his team’s mindset, while looking for consistent play from his entire roster, instead of just one or two players that are able to produce each night. It’s a tall task, but as the team’s eighth-year coach prepares to “pour confidence” into his roster, he already projected that just minutes after his team’s defeat. 

“I’m a fighter,” Keatts said. “This disappoints me. We’re going to get in there and I’m going to give some tough love. We’re going to get better.”

NC State doesn’t have time to waste. If it can’t right the ship, the team could be fighting for a spot in the ACC Tournament. There’s more than a dozen games until then, but the Wolfpack needs to use each of those to build confidence and momentum for any possible postseason hope.