Why was Kevin Keatts ejected? NC State HC's dramatic turmoil vs Wake Forest explored

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts was ejected on Tuesday night's win over Wake Forest.

The Wolfpack were hosting Wake Forest in a pivotal game for ACC basketball, and NC State got the 83-76 win. However, the Wolfpack had to get the win without their head coach as Keatts was ejected from the game.

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Why was Kevin Keatts ejected?

Kevin Keatts was already getting angry at the refs during NC State's home game against Wake Forest on Tuesday.

After a missed call which would have sent the Wolfpack to the free-throw line, Keatts ran onto the court in anger, protesting the no-call and getting hit with a technical foul. As the ref went to the scorer's table to announce the technical foul, Keatts kept yelling at the ref who then turned around and ejected him.

After getting thrown out, Keattes continued to yell at the ref to make sure his point was heard before exiting the game.

“I deserved the technical, because I thought the call was awful. I thought they missed the call," Keatts said at the post-game press conference. "Dennis, I thought he got fouled. In comparison to the way that all calls were made, I didn’t think I deserved to get tossed. I didn’t see the second one coming that quick. That will be something that we talk about. I absolutely knew what I was doing on the first (technical), but not the second one."

Despite Keattes getting ejected, the NC State Wolfpack were able to rally in the second half outscoring Wake Forest 48-31 to win 83-76.

Keattes admitted after the game, that had NC State not won, he would have continued his rant at the refs which would have gotten him fined.

“What a game... I probably would be fined right now had we not won the game, but I’m gonna keep the focus on the most important thing – our players and our coaching staff. I thought they did a tremendous job throughout the game.”

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NC State 5-1 In Conference Play

With the comeback win over Wake Forest, the NC State Wolfpack are second in the ACC with a record of 13-4 and 5-1 in conference play. They will return to the court at home on Saturday at noon ET against Virginia Tech.