While it was not against a ranked opponent nor a Quadrant One win for an NCAA Tournament resume, the Wolfpack (18-9, 8-6 ACC) defeated Wake Forest in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 90-84, for the first time since the 2011-2012 season. The win also rounds out Keatts’ record against Tobacco Road rivals to 4-1 on the regular season.

The victory should serve as a microcosm as to how far the Pack has come in Keatts’ inaugural season; however, let’s just take a snapshot of Saturday’s game and analyze what the Wolfpack did well.

Yurtseven taking more shots

Sophomore center Omer Yurtseven posted his fifth 20-point outing in ACC play on Saturday against the Demon Deacons. He scored 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including 3 of 6 from the beyond the arc.

Since Yurtseven sunk five 3-pointers against Clemson on Jan. 11, he had made only three shots from deep until Saturday.

Keatts has encouraged the Turkish center to shoot early and often on the hardwood, and when he warms up it bodes well for NC State.

In the six conference games where Yurtseven has shot the ball at least 14 times, the Wolfpack is 5-1. The lone loss was by five points to Miami and Yurtseven scored 28 points, his second most in a game, on 12-of-16 shooting.

Johnson continues to dish dimes

In six of the past eight games, sophomore guard Markell Johnson has recorded 10 assists or more which included a five-game stretch of double-digit assists, setting a new program record in the process.

Johnson doesn’t mind racking in dimes instead of points, and neither does the Wolfpack.

Against Wake Forest, the Cleveland native garnered 10 of the team’s 13 assists. Though freshman guard Braxton Beverly is serviceable at the point, Johnson’s playmaking ability is obviously superior. Since Johnson’s return from a seven-game suspension, NC State’s play has improved leaps and bounds.

Al Freeman has finally settled in

When graduate guard Allerik Freeman was benched midway through conference play, NC State fans rejoiced. The ball-dominant guard was forcing shots for too long and Keatts finally did something about it.

Now, after a five-game absence from the starting lineup, Freeman has returned to the starting five in the past three games due to an increase in his shooting efficiency; in fact, he’s shot 51.4 percent from the field in the last three games combined.

Freeman has finally morphed into the sharpshooter NC State needed and hoped he would be for the 2017-18 season. Since his initial removal from the lineup, he’s taken better shots, and it’s resulted in an impressive 48.7 percent clip from long range.