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Quick hits and notes from NC State’s easy 100-67 win over Western Carolina in front of 5,500 fans at the Kay Yow Court at James T. Valvano Arena at William Neal Reynolds Coliseum Wednesday evening.

Play of the game

After a back-and-forth opening five minutes to the game, NC State began to break it open, and it started around the 14:38 mark when fifth-year senior wing Torin Dorn took a nifty pass from redshirt sophomore wing Devon Daniels on the fast break for an uncontested dunk, giving the Wolfpack a 12-7 lead.

Highlight of the game

Normally the above-mentioned play of the game would have probably been the highlight of the game, but not long after that, sophomore guard Braxton Beverly threw a behind-the-back pass on the fast break to a trailing freshman forward Jericole Hellems for a dunk, putting NC State up 19-12 with 12:54 to go in the first half.

Player of the game

This was probably the version of Daniels that NC State fans were hoping/expecting to see. He received the start Wednesday with the slumping Beverly coming off the bench, and Daniels had 21 points in 23 minutes, making 8 of 12 shots from the field, including 3 of 5 three-pointers. That matched his career-high in made threes. It was also a new Wolfpack career-high for him in points, topping the 20 he had against UNC Asheville in the third game of the year.

Daniels had not scored in double digits since that contest, and entered Wednesday shooting just 37.5 percent from the field after making 57.1 percent of his shots during his rookie season at Utah.

A game overshadowed by the night

The primary attraction of the evening was the dedication of the arena of Reynolds Coliseum to legendary former coach Jim Valvano. This was the video shown prior to the game before Valvano’s family and former players took the court to a standing ovation from the crowd.

A game overshadowed by Kevin Keatts’ wardrobe

The red blazer and pants were one thing, but the shoes stole the show. Assistant coach Takayo Siddle actually spotted them. They were not custom-made for Keatts but were actually Gucci loafers that could pass for a NC State-related clothing accessory.

Our own Jacey Zembal was able to get a close up of the shoes after the game.

Other Wolfpack standouts

Back to the action on the court, here are some other notable performances for NC State:

• Sophomore guard Blake Harris, playing a season-high 21 minutes, became the final Wolfpacker on the team this year to register a double-digit scoring game, as he notched a career-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2 for 2 on three-pointers. Harris had never made multiple threes in a game before, and the five made field goals were also a new personal best.

• Hellems also set a new career-high with 16 points off the bench. Like Harris, he made 5 of 7 shots from the field, and Hellems was 2 of 4 on three-pointers. Through nine games he is 10 for 24 from long distance, an impressive 41.7 percent.

• Dorn had a modest night offensively with 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting, but he dialed it up on defense with four steals on a night where the Pack forced an astounding 33 turnovers. Dorn matched his career-high on steals.

• The 33 turnovers by Western Carolina was two off from making the list of the top five all-time turnovers forced by the Wolfpack in a game, but it was the most under Keatts.

Spotted at the game

Members of the football team, mostly seniors, did the honors of throwing t-shirts into the crowd during an official timeout. The loudest ovations were clearly for junior receiver Kelvin Harmon, who announced this week his intention to turn pro and skip the bowl game, and senior running back Reggie Gallaspy Jr. Strength coach Dantonio “Thunder” Burnette joined the players on the court.

Many former players returned for the night, including (but not limited to): Chris Corchiani (in a red blazer), Ernie Myers, Ben McCauley, Tommy Burleson, Avie Lester, Dereck Whittenburg, Chucky Brown, Cozell McQueen, Art Jones, Mike Warren and Eddie Biedenbach.

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

20:00-15:28: NC State 8, WCU 7

15:28-11:38: NC State 14, WCU 8

11:38-7:35: NC State 10, WCU 7

7:35-3:33: NC State 9, WCU 6

3:33-Halftime: WCU 5, NC State 4

Second half

20:00-14:52: NC State 12, WCU 3

14:52-12:00: NC State 8, WCU 5

12:00-7:48: NC State 15, WCU 7

7:48-3:31: NC State 14, WCU 12

3:31-Final: WCU 7, NC State 6

Plus/minus

Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU. Interestingly the five bench players had above +20 while the five starters were below that.

• Redshirt sophomore forward DJ Funderburk +23 (14 minutes played)

• Daniels +21 (23)

• Dorn +20 (26)

• Fifth-year senior wing Eric Lockett +18 (18)

• Junior guard Markell Johnson +17 (17)

• Redshirt junior wing C.J. Bryce +16 (24)

• Hellems +16 (20)

• Harris +15 (21)

• Beverly +13 (14)

• Redshirt junior forward Wyatt Walker +8 (23)

What the win means

The Pack is 8-1 overall on the season.

NC State is 15-0 all-time against Western Carolina, including 11-0 in games played at Reynolds Coliseum. It is the ninth time that NC State has reached 100 points against the Catamouths. Western Carolina, which in its previous two games lost by seven at Wake Forest and in double overtime to No. 25 Furman (yes, Furman is ranked in the Associated Press poll), fell to 2-8. The loss matched its defeated at SMU for its largest setback of the year.

The game was broadcast on ACC Network Extra. NC State only has one more game on the streaming network, while the rest of its contests will be broadcast on television. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.

- ACC Network Extra: 5-0

- RSN: 2-0

- ESPN2: 1-1

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

- November: 6-1

- December: 2-0

- January: 0-0

- February: 0-0

- March: 0-0

Other stats of note

• NC State won the battle in the paint, outscoring WCU 40-28.

• As you’d might expect, NC State crushed the turnover margin 33-13 and had a huge 32-10 advantage in points off turnovers.

• The Wolfpack also had a decisive 18-2 win in fast-break points.

• Defensively, NC State had three blocks and 13 steals. Western Carolina had two steals and five rejections.

• The Catamounts had a 38-31 edge on the boards, including 11-9 on the offensive glass. That’s partially because NC State shot 53.6 percent compared to 44.7 percent for WCU, and the Pack also attempted a notable 22 more shots. WCU had a 9-7 advantage in second-chance points.

• The Pack bench outscored Western Carolina’s reserves 44-23.

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