NC State is searching to snap its first 3-game skid in 2 seasons

It had been 51 contests, but NC State is on its first three-game losing streak since it lost the final five of the 2021-22 campaign. It’s a new experience for almost the entire roster since graduate guard Casey Morsell and junior forward Ernest Ross are the only scholarship players left from that losing streak. 

Earlier this season, NC State (13-7, 5-4 ACC) was able to respond from its other four losses and it only let one loss snowball into two after it lost to BYU and Ole Miss back-to-back in late-November. But now, the Wolfpack has a three-game skid it is looking to work itself out of. 

“I just think every team goes through a rough patch during the year, and this is ours,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said during the weekly ACC Zoom call Monday morning. “If we had won one, lost one, won one, lost one, it would look a little different. But when you lose two or three in a row, it smells different, it doesn’t even feel good at all.”

NC State fell at home to Virginia Tech on Jan. 20 — a game Keatts said the Wolfpack would like to have back — before it hit the road to drop contests at Virginia and Syracuse this past week. 

The common theme between the two most recent defeats has been extended periods without a made shot. It was more than 11 minutes without a point at Virginia in the first half, which led to a season-low 15 points in the first half, and then no made field goals for the final 8:20 of the first half at Syracuse. 

While the issue has been the same, Keatts could not point to one particular reason for the shooting woes. 

“I think we had one of those games at Syracuse, which you hate as a coach, where none of our shots fell and we didn’t have anybody to say, ‘Let’s feed the hot hand until somebody else gets going,’” Keatts said. “It just didn’t happen that way.”

Though the shooting struggles have presented themselves after NC State has found an early rhythm — the first 6 points at Virginia and an 18-15 lead at Syracuse — the Pack has been able to put together solid second half efforts. 

NC State outscored Virginia 32-20 in the final 20 minutes of regulation to force overtime and it logged 43 points in the second half at Syracuse. For Keatts, it’s a matter of getting that production to be consistent for the entire 40 minutes on the floor. 

“We’ve had great second halves,” Keatts said. “I just think we have to somehow get off to better starts. It’s a make or miss game, and if you’re not making shots, it doubles for us. Because if you’re not making shots, it doesn’t allow us to set up the type of defense that we like to play. We haven’t been able to create as much opportunities offensively off of our defense.”

Keatts said when NC State hits those lulls in the first half, which have been a routine five to eight minutes over the past two contests, he wants to see his team become aggressive on offense. Instead of settling for the outside shots — long twos and 3-pointers — Keatts wants his guards to get to the rim. 

That mindset would not only help NC State’s offense see the ball go through the hoop, but it would also present the opportunity for free throws with contact inside. Currently, NC State has an effective field goal percentage of 45.3 in ACC play, which ranks last in the conference, according to KenPom. 

NC State’s ability to get to the basket would help combat its 30.2% from beyond the arc in league play, and it would eliminate the long stretches without a made shot. It only made a pair of 2-pointers in the first half at Syracuse, which was a key part of its long droughts from the field against the Orange. 

The Wolfpack have an opportunity to turn the ship around with a good Miami team visiting PNC Arena on Tuesday night in a nationally-televised contest. Keatts hoped that returning to Raleigh would be a good thing for his squad.

“I just think one of those things is we have to stay the course, and hopefully being at home, getting a little home cooking, will help us a little bit,” Keatts said.

Though NC State has not found the win column in more than a week on the calendar, the Wolfpack are hungry to turn it around. The biggest part of that has come through this team’s first experience with an extended period of adversity. The Pack has eight new faces on this season’s roster, only two of them have experienced something similar to this at NC State, and Keatts said this losing streak has provided an opportunity to grow as a team. 

“I think it’s a learning process,” Keatts said. “It’s one of those things where we’re learning to come together because every team is going to go through some stretch where you’re going to need some leadership. When you’ve got so many new people, everybody’s trying to figure out who can lead. I think they’re trying to figure that out now, and we’re trying to help them as a team also.”