Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 80-69 loss at St. Louis on Thursday evening at Chaifetz Arena..

In hindsight, it's easy to pick out the moment when it was clear that the Wolfpack was in trouble.

It had just given up the led it had clung to most of the game and was trailing 60-58 with the possession when freshman guard Shakeel Moore took what was probably an ill-advised three-pointer with 6:48 left.

About 15 seconds later on the other end of the floor, Saint Louis junior guard Demarius Jacobs made a three-pointer. From that point forward, the fresher Billikens began to run past a clearly fatigued Wolfpack squad.

It came in defeat, but the continued improvement from redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates is something to behold.

Bates had his best game in a Wolfpack uniform. He made 8 of 15 shots from the field and 4 of 6 free throws for a career-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds and a career-high eight blocks.

His previous personal-best in scoring was 13 points last season against Pittsburgh and for rejections was seven as a rookie vs. Detroit Mercy. He had never made more than five shots or attempted more than nine in a game before. It was also the most free throws he's made in a contest.

Bates now just needs one more block shot to reach 100 for his career.

Seeing how this was NC State's first true test of the season, it was interesting to see how some trends in lopsided wins over Charleston Southern, North Florida and UMass Lowell would hold up.

One that held up great: turnovers.

On the flip side, after four games it's becoming clear NC State has to get a lot better on the boards, and quickly.

The five players who did not make the trip, presumably for COVID-19 related reasons, included three scholarship players: freshman center Ebenezer Dowuona, fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk and freshman guard Cam Hayes.

Funderburk is obviously the most established of the three. Although he was off to a slower-than-anticipated start the first three games of the season, he still boasts career averages of 10.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Wolfpack.

Hayes was off to a strong beginning in his rookie campaign, averaging 11.3 points, 5.3 assists and 2.0 steals per contest while turning the ball over just two times.

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

First half

20:00-15:22: NC State 6, Saint Louis 4

15:22-11:56: Saint Louis 4, NC State 3

11:56-8:04: NC State 10, Saint Louis 2

8:04-3:52: Saint Louis 9, NC State 6

3:52-Halftime: NC State 10, Saint Louis 10

Second half

20:00-14:47: Saint Louis 15, NC State 11

14:47-11:58: NC State 7, Saint Louis 3

11:58-7:42: Saint Louis 10, NC State 5

7:42-3:54: Saint Louis 12, NC State 2

3:54-Final: Saint Louis 11, NC State 9

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

• Moore +8 (13 minutes played)

• Freshman forward Jaylon Gibson -2 (1)

• Junior forward Jericole Hellems -4 (35)

• Redshirt freshman wing Dereon Seabron -6 (10)

• Bates -9 (37)

• Redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen -12 (34)

• Fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels -15 (36)

• Senior guard Braxton Beverly -15 (34)

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

Bates – 17.8

Beverly – 10.3

Daniels – 7.9

Moore – 7.2

Allen – 5.1

Hellems – 2.7

Seabron – 0.1

Gibson – 0.0

Saint Louis is now 2-0 against the Wolfpack, both meetings held away from the Pack's home. Each time, the Billikens rallied from double-digits down to win. It erased what was at one point a 10-point lead with a minute left in the first half Thursday.

In the 2014 NCAA Tournament, the Wolfpack blew a 16-point second-half lead.

This game was televised on RSN. Throughout the year we will keep track of the Pack's record on the different channels.

- ACC Network: 1-0

• ESPNU: 1-0

- RSN: 1-1

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

- November: 2-0

• December: 1-1

• Both teams has 36 points in the paint.

• Saint Louis had the slight edge in fast break points, 8-7.

• The Billiken’s bench beat NC State’s reserves, 11-7.

• NC State crushed the turnover margin 21-8, and it had a big advantage in points off turnovers, 18-3.

• NC State was equally crushed on the boards, 53-26 in overall rebounds, including a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass. The Billikens had a 14-6 advantage in second chance points.

• Defensively, NC State had nine blocks and 12 steals. Saint Louis had three blocks and added four steals.

• There were three ties and four lead changes. NC State’s largest lead was 10 points and it led for 28:17. Saint Louis' largest advantage was 15 points and it led for 9:38, most of that coming the final seven minutes of the game..

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