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Quick hits and notes from NC State’s 97-64 win over Loyola (Md.) in front of 15,098 fans at PNC Arena on Friday.

Play of the game

There really wasn’t a lot of drama in NC State’s win, but the Wolfpack did get off to a sluggish start. The Greyhounds hung around for the majority of the first half, but when freshman forward Jericole Hellems converted a three-point play to give NCSU a 40-30 lead with 1:23 left in the first half, the floodgates started to open up.

Highlight of the game

NC State finished with 13 blocks, and one of them was a terrific sequence where redshirt junior C.J. Bryce blocked Loyola (Md.) center KaVaughn Scott, and that led to fifth-year senior Torin Dorn getting out on the break for a dunk and 26-18 lead in the first half.

Player of the game

Hellems tied his career high with 16 points and his five points toward the end of the first half helped open up a 12-point lead, which led to NCSU leading 45-30 at halftime. The freshman from St. Louis finished going 6 of 11 from the field, 1 of 4 on three-pointers and he made all three free throws. He added four rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes played.

Junior wing Andrew Kostecka also deserves praise for pumping in 27 points and eight rebounds in the loss. He more than lived up to his pre-game billing as a quality scorer, who easily could help ACC squads.

NC State dominates the paint

The Wolfpack took advantage of the guard-heavy lineup of Loyola (Md.), scoring 58 points in the paint. The Greyhounds were missing 6-7, 198-pound forward Brent Holcombe, who was averaging 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, and had 11 blocks this season. He was fresh off of having 16 points and two three-pointer’s against UMass-Lowell on Dec. 21. Loyola had just two blocks and NC State was able to relentlessly get to the rim on drive-after-drive.

Loyola’s lack of size helped NC State shoot an impressive 63 percent from the field (40 of 64), which was easily the Wolfpack’s best output of the young season. NCSU had shot 60.7 percent from the field against Penn State.

Mass subbing continued

The Wolfpack have featured five-for-five substitution patterns against some of the overmatched opponents this season, and that was the case at times Friday. Junior point guard Markell Johnson received a quick hook and went scoreless in 14 minutes, and was criticized after the game for his “low energy” by NCSU coach Kevin Keatts.

Hellems thrived with his increased workload, but he wasn’t the only one. The bench finished with 45 points and went a combined 18 of 28 from the field, plus 14 rebounds and wing Devon Daniels had a career-high seven assists.

Free throw shooting improves

NC State has been consistent at being inconsistent at the free-throw line this season. The team entered the game shooting 68.1 percent from the line, but responded by going 10 of 12 for 83.3 percent. Three different players shot three free throw attempts apiece in the win.

NC State had previously shot less than 70 percent from the line in six different games, including going 12 of 23 for 52.2 percent in the win over Auburn on Dec. 19.

Spotted at the game

Former NC State defensive tackle Thomas Teal received a shout out during the game.

Scoring between official timeouts

This year we have kept track of the scoring between each official timeout to help give an idea of the game flow:

First half

20:00-15:37: NC State 7, Loyola (Md.) 6

15:37-11:05: NC State 13, Loyola (Md.) 9

11:05-3:51: NC State 13, Loyola (Md.) 12

3:51-Halftime: NC State 12, Loyola (Md.) 3

Second half

20:00-15:36: NC State 9, Loyola (Md.) 7

15:36-11:54: NC State 9, Loyola (Md.) 8

11:54-8:00: NC State 13, Loyola (Md.) 8

8:00-3:07: NC State 17, Loyola (Md.) 4

3:07-Final: Loyola (Md.) 7, NC State 4

Plus/minus

Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU.

• Dorn +28 (27 minutes played)

• Hellems +27 (23)

• Daniels +24 (27)

• Bryce +23 (26)

• Lockett +20 (17)

• Beverly +14 (21)

• Walker +11 (22)

• Funderburk +9 (17)

• Harris +6 (7)

• Johnson +2 (14)

What the win means

NC State improved to 5-0 against Loyola (Md.), with the last meeting taking place on Dec. 29, 2008, which the Wolfpack narrowly won 62-60. NCSU center Ben McCauley had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the way. The Pack is 12-1 overall on the season, matching the start of the 2005-06 squad. That team rose to No. 13 in The Associated Press poll at one point.

The game was broadcast on ACC Network Extra. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.

- ACC Network Extra: 6-0

- RSN: 3-0

- ESPN2: 2-1

- ESPNU: 1-0

We will also track NC State’s records by month:

- November: 6-1

- December: 6-0

- January: 0-0

- February: 0-0

- March: 0-0

The last time NC State went undefeated in December was 2012.

Other stats of note

• NC State won the battle in the paint, outscoring Loyola (Md.), 58-26.

• The Wolfpack won the turnover margin but barely at 21-19, and NC State outscored the Greyhounds in points off turnovers, 35-16.

• The Wolfpack had a 39-16 win in fast-break points, for the third game in a row.

• Defensively, NC State had an impressive 13 blocks and nine steals. Loyola (Md.) had 10 steals and two rejections.

• The Wolfpack had a 38-24 edge on the boards, including 11-9 on the offensive glass. State had a 10-7 advantage in second-chance points.

• The Pack bench outscored the Greyhounds’ reserves 45-15.

• NC State led for 38:13 compared to just 22 seconds seconds for Loyola (Md.), and the game was tied for 1:25 seconds. Loyola (Md.) led by two points and NC State’s largest lead was 38.

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