NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - NC STATE VS CREIGHTON

March 16, 2023

Kevin Keatts

Terquavion Smith

Jarkel Joiner

Ball Arena

NC State Wolfpack

Media Conference

Q. Obviously Creighton has a few shot makers. Watching film this past week, what are your biggest takeaways from their offense and what will be toughest to deal with?

TERQUAVION SMITH: I feel like the biggest takeaways are that they like to shoot threes. They shoot at a high clip. They can shoot from anywhere on the floor, in their backcourt, so I feel like pressure is key for us.

Q. For both of you guys, T, you talked extensively about wanting to get to the NCAA Tournament, how excited you guys were in the video when your names were called. How has this experience stacked up so far being here and just kind of realizing a dream that you've had since you were a kid?

JARKEL JOINER: Oh, man, when I first committed and T decided he was going to come back, that's all we talked about was get to the tournament. We knew how special we could be as a team. As you saw in the video, all the emotions came out for all of us and it's what we dreamed of as a kid.

TERQUAVION SMITH: I feel like it was a good time for us, it brought us together, showed us what we could do and accomplish if we played the right play and believed in one another, so that was a good moment for us.

Q. This game figures to be an up-and-down battle. When you have teams challenge you because I know you like to run, do your eyes light up?

JARKEL JOINER: Most definitely. We like to play fast and, you know, they like to play fast. Like you said, we light up and it should be a fun game.

TERQUAVION SMITH: I feel the same way. We like to play fast. We like to get good shots fast, so it should be a great game.

Q. What about the altitude? Have you guys experienced basketball at a mile high before?

JARKEL JOINER: We've been practicing, so this ain't that bad I feel like. We've been okay with it.

TERQUAVION SMITH: Yeah, I really haven't felt any different.

Q. For both of you guys, this run that you had to get here to the tournament, what have you learned about yourselves to get to this point as individuals and then as a team? What have you learned?

TERQUAVION SMITH: Well, I would say that I learned that I have a group of brothers that have my back and care about me and that are going to do everything it takes to win games. I've also learned that if I'm not doing anything, I know they will help me and encourage me to keep being myself and playing hard, as well.

JARKEL JOINER: I agree.

Q. I know you're excited about being in the NCAA Tournament, but how do you keep from being overly excited to the point that you might make mistakes? Seems like there might be a fine line there about wanting to play hard but not making mistakes.

TERQUAVION SMITH: I feel like we're locked in. Coaches keep us locked in in practice, making sure we know everything we need to know, scouting report all the way down to everything. So I feel like us being together and practicing, keeping us together and locked in for the game.

Q. Jarkel, I know you'll be excited. How are you going to keep the nerves in check?

JARKEL JOINER: Man, I like to play emotional. But we've been doing our homework, watching a lot of film, and Coach has been telling us keep our emotions in check, and while we're here, we might as well try to win some games.

Q. Obviously Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of the better defenders in the country. Do you see any similarities of him to anybody you might have played in the ACC this year?

TERQUAVION SMITH: I would say the big man from Syracuse, kind of similar.

JARKEL JOINER: Yeah.

Q. When you guys get going, you guys are as tough an out as anybody in the tournament. How much pressure is associated with that, knowing that a lot of this team's success is riding on you guys and how you come out and perform?

JARKEL JOINER: I wouldn't say it's pressure, but I feel like we know what we can do each and every night, and we put a lot of work in, so it's confidence for us.

TERQUAVION SMITH: Yeah, I would say no pressure, as well. Like he said, we know what we can do. We've just got to put our mind to it.

Q. NC State is one of the great turnaround stories in college basketball. You go from 21 losses to 23 wins, but you're not getting a lot of love from the national media. You guys know what you can do. If you can play to your potential, what do you think the ceiling is for this team?

JARKEL JOINER: The ceiling is really high. I feel like that's good we don't get a lot of love. Just always a good underdog story.

TERQUAVION SMITH: I feel the same way. I feel like it would be a very high ceiling. I feel like no national recognition keeps that chip on our shoulder. That just helps us in every way possible.

KEVIN KEATTS: Well, we're really glad to be in the great city of Denver. When I got here and just walked into this arena, there was a certain calmness about it. When I look up there and I see David Thompson's jersey retired and hanging up, I feel good about it.

Excited. Our guys are really proud to be here. It's been a lot of work that went into this year, and we're pumped about it. We're going to play against a very good Creighton team that has great tradition, has done a good job, good coaching. But our guys are excited for the opportunity.

Questions?

Q. Coach, you mentioned David Thompson, a favorite. This is obviously the 40th anniversary of kind of the moment that raised the profile of this whole tournament. For those of us who don't spend a lot of time around your program, how is that honored on a day-to-day basis? Pictures, trophies, do you talk about that, that kind of thing?

KEVIN KEATTS: Well, David is obviously a part of the '74, and obviously we talk about that a lot. We did honor the '83 team, our athletic director Boo Corrigan did a great job getting those guys back to campus and we got everybody that was still living come to campus and had a great time with it.

Tradition is huge at NC State. We do not hide from it. We understand that we're one of few schools that have two national champions. Both of those teams were so special to us. I'll talk about the '83 team since we're talking about the 40th anniversary.

They came out of nowhere, worked extremely hard, and obviously came away with a National Championship.

It was great moments where they were on campus. We were able to have those guys talk to our players and exchange numbers, and I thought it was a greatest thing in the world.

Our guys embraced it. It's important to know where your culture and some of the former players came from and how they won championships.

That was a really unique thing for us.

Q. Ryan Kalkbrenner shoots lay-ups and dunks and there's not a whole lot else. How do they scheme him to get those shots when that's pretty much all you're going to see and you kind of know that going in against them?

KEVIN KEATTS: Man, he is really good. You look at it -- I don't know that I've ever had a guy or seen a guy who shoots 70 percent. And I'm sorry, I don't want to discredit him, 71 plus percent from the field. They do a great job. They run plays to get him the ball in the post. He's a great rim run guy, a big target, so he's able to be able to rim run and be able to get some shots by doing that.

He does a great job offensive rebounding. He's a talented player.

When you see and you get a chance to play against players, you always wonder where they came from. We had a kid on our team, Jerrico Hellems from St. Louis -- and I remember trying to recruit this young man, and we didn't get far with it. Creighton did a great job with him. What a special talent he is, and he will be a handful for us. We've got to do a great job with him. I don't know if he's the type of guy you can guard with one guy. We've got to dig and possibly look to trap him at times.

Q. Kevin, on the other end, Kalkbrenner is obviously one of the better defenders in the country. After a week of film, have you seen any similarities in him maybe that you saw to anyone in the ACC or how different is he as a defender and what challenge does that pose?

KEVIN KEATTS: Yeah, that's a great question because you always try to look and say, all right, have we played against someone similar to him. I would say the closest one to him would be the young man from Boston College, Quinten Post, who was the most improved player in our league, talented, seven-foot, that can shoot it.

But he's tough. I know we concentrate a lot on his offensive end, which he's really, really talented. But when you look at what he does, two-time Big East Player of the Year; defensively, he changes shots. They do a great job with the drop coverage and making him shoot over you. He's tough. Like he may be the most all-around big guy that we've seen the entire season.

Q. We spoke with Jarkel and T about playing a team that loves to get up and down the court. What challenges does Creighton present for you? This obviously is going to be a strength on strength game.

KEVIN KEATTS: Yeah, we played two teams in our conference that I think Creighton is very similar to. Miami, who's got great guards, who can really get up and down, and then Duke, who's probably playing as good a basketball as anybody in our league. One of the biggest challenges is we've got to do a great job of getting back in transition defense. I mean, they're elite in transition. They really shoot the basketball.

Very seldom do you have five guys on any night capable of scoring in double figures. They have a great inside out game. They do a good job of moving the ball around. They attack you off ball screens. It's a really good team.

Honestly, to be quite honest with you, I think they're better than a 6 seed. They're a really, really good basketball team. The times that they've struggled, they had some guys out, but when you look and they're playing their best basketball, it'll be a really big challenge for us.