Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 64-58 loss at Georgia Tech in front of 6,794 fans at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta Saturday afternoon.

What is it with Georgia Tech senior center James Banks III and NC State?

Last year, it was Banks who had the slam dunk with 1.4 seconds left in Raleigh when NC State was leading 61-60. Banks, who was fouled on the play, made the free throw for the final points in a stunning 63-61 Yellow Jackets win that may have been a death nail in the Pack’s NCAA Tournament hopes.

Then in the season-opener this year, Banks made two free throws with 2.1 seconds left at PNC Arena in overtime to give GT an 82-81 win.

For the third straight game between the two teams, Banks made what proved to be a game-winner. He tipped in a missed shot by Georgia Tech’s Jose Alvarado with 23.2 seconds left to break a 58-58 tie.

NC State redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels had to use every inch of his vertical leap to catch an alley-oop from fifth-year senior guard C.J. Bryce and lay it in with 8:51 left in the game, tying the contest at 49-49.

This was a huge game for Alvarado, a junior who picked up the scoring with the Jackets playing without leading scorer Michael DeVoe, a late scratch because of a foot injury.

Alvarado had a season-high 26 points on 9-of-21 shooting from the field and added eight rebounds and a pair of assists.

He also had a stellar eight steals, including a pair in the final two Pack possessions. That is the most steals that any Wolfpack opposing player has ever had against NC State in a game.

NC State’s senior guard did his part. He scored 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and added four assists (although he did have four turnovers). The only other starter who reached double digits was Daniels, who had 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

Most notably, Bryce, NC State’s leading scorer, was held without a point. He missed all four shot attempts from the field while battling foul trouble and eventually fouling out after just 26 minutes. Bryce has only been scoreless twice before in his career, and both were while he was a freshman at UNC Wilmington.

Redshirt junior forward DJ Funderburk’s streak of nine straight games in double-digits scoring came to an end. He finished with eight points and five boards.

Sophomore forward Jericole Hellems also had a rough outing on offense. He went 1 for 8 from the field, misfiring on all four three-point attempts, and had four turnovers. Hellems finished with six points.

Johnson did become the 53rd player in school history to have 1,000 career points and the fourth guard with both 1,000 points and 500 assists (joining Chris Corchiani, Sidney Lowe and Lorenzo Brown).

A couple of wins have masked some recent offensive struggles for the Pack. This is the fourth time in five games where NC State has scored 60 points or less. Some of the numbers from those four contests:

• At Virginia Tech — 58 points, 31.9 percent shooting overall, 6 of 30 on three-pointers.

• Vs. Clemson — 60 points, 39.2 percent shooting overall, 6 of 25 on three-pointers.

• At Virginia — 53 points, 39.2 percent shooting overall, 5 of 16 on three-pointers.

• At Georgia Tech — 58 points, 37.9 percent shooting overall, 4 of 19 on three-pointers.

Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner is now 4-0 against the Pack’s third-year head coach. Here are Keatts’ records against each ACC team:

• Boston College: 3-1

• Clemson: 4-2

• Duke: 1-1

• Florida State: 1-1

• Georgia Tech: 0-4

• Louisville: 1-1

• Miami: 2-1

• North Carolina: 1-3

• Notre Dame: 3-1

• Pittsburgh: 3-0

• Syracuse: 2-0

• Virginia: 1-3

• Virginia Tech: 0-3

• Wake Forest: 4-1

On the bench for NC State were senior forward Pat Andree and redshirt freshman center Manny Bates, who both missed their second straight game. Bates is out while in concussion protocol, and Andree is nursing an ankle injury.

Here we keep track of the scoring between each official timeout to help give an idea of the game flow:

First half

20:00-15:23: Georgia Tech 8, NC State 3

15:23-11:48: Georgia Tech 9, NC State 5

11:48-8:30: NC State 6, Georgia Tech 2

8:30-3:39: NC State 12, Georgia Tech 9

3:39-Halftime: NC State 6, Georgia Tech 3

Second half

20:00-15:25: NC State 9, Georgia Tech 9

15:25-11:28: Georgia Tech 7, NC State 6

11:28-7:47: NC State 4, Georgia Tech 2

7:47-3:55: Georgia Tech 5, NC State 4

3:55-Final: Georgia Tech 10, NC State 3

Using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, players are graded 1-40 with 10 being average for an NBA player.

Johnson: 14.9

Daniels: 8.9

Junior guard Braxton Beverly: 8.8

Funderburk: 3.9

Hellems: -0.3

Senior center Danny Dixon: -0.4

Bryce: -2.5

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

• Beverly -1 (31)

• Funderburk -2 (38)

• Dixon -3 (7)

• Daniels -4 (30)

• Johnson -6 (38)

• Hellems -7 (30)

• Bryce -7 (26)

NC State is 14-6 overall and 5-4 in the ACC, and Georgia Tech is 9-11 and 4-6. The Wolfpack now leads the all-time series 57-43 but has lost four straight and is 18-23 in Atlanta.

The Pack is 3-5 away from home this year, including 3-4 in true road games. NC State is 7-4 in day games (played before 6 p.m.), 8-3 in weekend games and 13-2 when leading at halftime. Both of its losses have come to the Yellow Jackets.

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

- ACC Network Extra: 3-0

- ESPN: 1-0

- ESPN+: 1-0

- RSN: 4-2

- ACC Network: 3-2

- ESPN2: 2-2

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

- November: 5-2

- December: 5-1

- January: 4-3

• Georgia Tech won the battle in the paint, 32-26.

• The Pack had a slight edge in fast break points, 13-12.

• Georgia Tech’s bench beat NC State’s reserves, 15-11.

• The Pack had the edge in turnover margin 14-13, but Georgia Tech more decisively won the points off turnovers, 20-12.

• NC State won the battle on the boards, 35-34 overall and 10-8 on the offensive glass. State had an 11-8 advantage on second-chance points.

• Defensively, NC State had no blocks and nabbed seven steals. The Jackets had five blocks and 11 steals.

• NC State’s largest lead was five points, while Georgia Tech’s was 11. NC State led for 13:25 compared to 19:28 for the Yellow Jackets. The game was tied for 7:08.

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