Kevin Keatts evaluates Terquavion Smith's quiet night vs Duke

After a road loss to Duke to finish their season, NC State coach Kevin Keatts spoke about the growing pains for Terquavion Smith this year. Smith finished with just eight points on the night, shooting 2-9 from the field with both makes coming from three-point range.

After the loss, Keatts highlighted that teams have started to play much tougher defense against him as he established himself as an elite scorer — and that foul trouble has kept Smith limited over the final games of the regular season.

Kevin Keatts on Terquavion Smith’s slow night

“I think they’re just doing a good job,” said Keatts of Duke’s defense on Smith. “You know he’s such an elite scorer, and a lot of times people are more face-guarding and sitting in gaps and making it tough for him to get the basketball. A lot of teams are starting to be really physical with him.

“So some of those things, he’s been… one of the things we’ve gotta clean up with him is he’s been off the court for the last three or four games because he’s picking up two fouls in the first half. So he’s not allowed to play. So we gotta do a better job of him not fouling.”

Keatts then fielded a question about the visible frustration shown by Smith on the court lately, and if there was anything Keatts felt he needed to coach around in regards to bad nights.

“I think he’ll be fine. I don’t worry about him. He’s frustrated because he’s a good player and that’s it. I don’t think it’s anything to do with his team. But good players like to play well and scorers like to score. So when he’s not scoring I think he’s upset with himself for not doing his job.”

Although Smith’s shooting percentage is down a bit this year from last season, he remains one of the highest scorers in the nation. In the ACC, Smith is tied with teammate Jarkel Joiner for third-leading scorer in the conference with 17.3 points per game each.