Has NC State finally convinced the doubters? Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts isn’t sure

What more does it take?

How many more games does N.C. State have to win?

Moments after the Wolfpack’s 67-58 victory over Marquette on Friday in the NCAA South Regional, NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said he’s not sure his team has silenced all the doubters.

“Our guys are fighting and as locked in as you can be,” Keatts said. “And to be quite honest, these guys are playing through some disrespect from a lot of people.”

Disrespect? After eight straight wins? CBS has sent a lot of love the Wolfpack’s way in the NCAA Tournament, all but giving D.J Burns rock-star status, rolling out stories of Wolfpack seasons gone by — you did hear that State won national championships in 1974 and 1983, didn’t you? — and made the Pack a rags-to-riches kind of basketball story, beginning with their unlikely five-wins-in-five-days ACC Tournament run.

And despite all that … still disrespect?

“I do think that,” Keatts said. “I think I saw a poll the other day where there were 16 teams and we were the 16th team in the Sweet 16.

“That’s not our main motivator. but I think our guys understand that we look at it as an entire year and how things went, and they’re just locked in and focused. One of the things they do, they just believe in everything that they do.

“And here’s the key to our success: we’re really having fun.”

Neither the Pack nor the Golden Eagles (27-10) were having much fun in the second half Friday. It was, as Keatts likes to say, another boxing match, minus the gloves. Bodies banged, there were hard fouls and few pretty baskets.

N.C. State appeared to have a healthy enough lead much of the half but Marquette, the region’s No. 2 seed out of the Big East Conference, was lurking, one mini-run away from making it a tight finish, and with so much at stake.

“But we’ve been able to answer a lot of runs from other teams,” Keatts said. “Again, it’s our guys are focused. And I said this going into the ACC Tournament, we’ve limited our mistakes. We really guarded the 3-point line today against a team that has won a lot from the 3-point line.”

Marquette’s Kam Jones took 11 shots from 3 and several were open. He made three, at times shaking his head after a miss. Guard Tyler Kolek missed four of five. Those were the Golden Eagles’ top guns and they fired a lot of blanks as a team averaging 78 points a game finished with 58.

That should earn the Pack some degree of respect, shouldn’t it?

“It’s really nothing new,” Pack guard D.J. Horne said. “We’re used to that, been through that the whole season.

“I wouldn’t say it’s given us any extra fuel. What I would say is the guys in this locker room are all we need, and it’s given us the energy to get up for these games and fight for each other.”

As the game ended, several Wolfpack players gathered on the court close to the State cheering section at American Airlines Center, shouting, “Why not us? Why not us?”

Why not?