The first of back-to-back road games in California did not go as the eighth-year NC State basketball head coach hoped. And the same goes for the Wolfpack’s previous six outings, all losses en route to matching the 2021-22 squad, which sustained its skid around this same juncture in the season and finished 11-21 overall, for the program’s longest losing streak since Kevin Keatts assumed the reins.

ALSO READ: NC State Signee Gets Ranking Bump After Falling Elsewhere

NC State’s 74-62 season-sweep defeat at the hands of the Cal Golden Bears (12-11, 5-7 ACC) late Wednesday night leaves the Wolfpack (9-13, 2-9 ACC) with seven straight losses. Plus, the squad is further out of position to even qualify for the 18-team conference’s 15-invite ACC Tournament in Charlotte’s Spectrum Center, March 11-15.

Same old story. State enjoyed some encouraging moments, flipped off the scoring switch for too long, kept fighting, and fell short of seizing control when it mattered most.

As a result, Keatts and his players are on the longest NC State basketball losing streak since Mark Gottfried’s 2016-17 squad tallied seven in a row, also around this same time of year in the heart of ACC play. Following the sixth loss in that dismal stretch, the program announced that Gottfried, then in his sixth year at the helm, would not return for the next season, ultimately Keatts’ first in Raleigh.

Despite consistently showing fight this season, it feels like ages since the current Wolfpack talents have displayed any measure of consistent confidence as a group when it comes to crunch time. And for the most part, Keatts’ countless lineup combinations of late are beginning to look like a guessing game, especially late in contests.

Fortunately for Kevin Keatts, his NC State basketball claim to fame is still relatively recent, as the 2023-24 Wolfpack became the program’s first ACC Tournament champion and Final Four participant since the 1980s.

That said, the current product hasn’t provided much in the fanfare department.

If NC State doesn’t find a way to win on the road against the Stanford Cardinal (15-8, 7-5 ACC) at 7 p.m. ET Saturday (ACC Network), the program will be on its outright longest losing streak since Sidney Lowe’s 2007-08 Wolfpack ended on a nine-game skid.

ALSO READ: Prime Wolfpack Target Catches Fire for North Carolina Squad

Stay tuned to NC State Wolfpack On SI for more NC State basketball news.