Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 67-61 loss to No. 8 Florida State in front of a crowd of 17,444 fans at PNC Arena in Raleigh on Saturday afternoon.

Florida State came roaring out of the second half, and a major turning point was when NC State head coach Kevin Keatts made a gamble.

Wolfpack redshirt junior forward DJ Funderburk had picked up his third foul with 17:57 left in the contest. Keatts chose not to sub for him, and in fact sent sophomore forward Jericole Hellems in for redshirt freshman center Manny Bates instead.

A little over a minute later, Funderburk picked up his fourth foul. FSU junior wing M.J. Walker made both free throws to put the Noles up for good at 36-35.

Hellems had an uncontested breakaway dunk in the first half and took a nice swing on the rim.

Walker was scoreless and only played 6:22 in the first half because he picked up two fouls. When FSU started the second half on a 14-5 run to turn a five-point NC State lead at the break into a four-point Noles advantage, Walker had exploded for 10 quick points.

Walker would finish tying for a team-high with 12 points while playing the entire second half.

Keatts, who picked up a technical foul in the second half, made clear in his post game press conference he was not happy with the free throw and the foul disparity that piled up in the second half.

His ire was directed at the fact that both teams had nearly identical overall shooting numbers: NC State made 23 of 56 shots from the field and 6 of 19 threes while FSU was 22-of-54 shooting overall and 5 of 19 on three-pointers.

Florida State though was 18 of 29 at the line and NC State was 9 of 13. In the second half, NC State went to the line three times and the Noles were 14 of 24.

It is not the largest disparity, however, in an ACC game this season involving the Wolfpack. Against UNC, NC State attempted only seven free throws while the Heels shot 25. Overall, in 12 out of 16 ACC games the Wolfpack’s opponent has attempted more free throws, with the difference being by double digits in four of them.

Although the free throw disparity was a popular topic of conversation postgame, the bottom line is that NC State’s two leading scorers — fifth-year senior guard C.J. Bryce and senior guard Markell Johnson — were a combined 5-of-22 shooting from the field, including 2 of 11 on threes, for 12 points.

In ACC play, NC State relies on Johnson, Bryce, Funderburk and redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels to carry the scoring load. In conference action, those four players are each averaging between 12.5 and 13.4 points per game.

In this game, Funderburk was limited to nine points before fouling out in just 26:27 of action. Only Daniels, who made 7 of 16 shots and finished with a game-high 18 points, was able to better his average.

Bryce in particular has struggled the last three games. He is 11 of 37 from the field in that stretch and 1 of 11 on threes.

Another quad one win would have given NC State six on the year and left it with a wide margin for error down the stretch for making the NCAA Tournament. It still has an opportunity at Duke, but this loss likely means that the Pack needs to hold serve at UNC and home versus Pitt and Wake Forest to feel good about its position.

In terms of the ACC standings, NC State is in a three-way tie for fifth with Syracuse and Clemson. Notre Dame has a chance to join them if it beats Miami at home Sunday.

In a three-way tie with the Orange and Tigers, Clemson would be the five seed, NC State six and Syracuse seven. In a four-way tie with Notre Dame included, the Pack would be the fifth seed.

NC State senior forward Pat Andree was not available for a third straight game.

The Wolfpack also honored Al Heartly, the school’s first-ever African-American basketball player. Heartly was greeted with a standing ovation from the Wolfpack faithful.

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

First half

20:00-14:27: Florida State 9, NC State 6

14:27-11:20: NC State 9, Florida State 2

11:20-7:51: Florida State 6, NC State 5

7:51-3:31: NC State 7, Florida State 7

3:31-Halftime: NC State 5, Florida State 3

Second half

20:00-14:16: Florida State 14, NC State 7

14:16-10:52: Florida State 8, NC State 7

10:52-8:08: Florida State 8, NC State 2

8:08-3:00: Florida State 5, NC State 4

3:00-Final: NC State 9, Florida State 5

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

Hellems: 14.3

Daniels: 11.6

Junior guard Braxton Beverly: 7.2

Johnson: 4.4

Funderburk: 3.6

Freshman center Manny Bates: 0.6

Senior center Danny Dixon: -0.1

Freshman forward Max Farthing: -1.4

Bryce: -2.1

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

• Beverly +5 (13:51 minutes played)

• Farthing +1 (0:44)

• Hellems -1 (29:23)

• Funderburk -2 (26:27)

• Bates -5 (19:28)

• Dixon -6 (2:44)

• Daniels -7 (38:01)

• Johnson -7 (34:38)

• Bryce -8 (34:34)

NC State is 17-10 overall and 8-8 in the ACC, and Florida State is 23-4 and 13-3. NC State leads the all-time series 31-27 and is 9-7 in games played at PNC Arena.

Under head coach Kevin Keatts, NC State is 5-7 against top-10 ranked opponents, including 3-3 at PNC Arena.

The Pack is 12-4 at home this year. NC State is 7-6 in day games (played before 6 p.m.), 8-6 in weekend games (including 6-0 on Wednesdays) and 15-3 when leading at halftime.

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

- ACC Network Extra: 3-0

- ESPN+: 1-0

- RSN: 4-2

- ESPN2: 3-2

- ACC Network: 4-4

- ESPN: 2-2

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

- November: 5-2

- December: 5-1

- January: 4-4

- February: 3-3

• Florida State won the battle in the paint, 34-26.

• FSU had the edge in fast break points, 16-11.

• Both teams had 22 points from their benches.

• The Noles had the edge in turnover margin, 11-10, but more importantly had an advantage in points off turnovers, 13-7.

• Florida State won the battle on the boards, 37-34 overall and 15-11 on the offensive glass. FSU crushed the Pack on second-chance points, 16-7.

• Defensively, NC State had four blocks, altered four shots and nabbed five steals. The Seminoles had also had four blocks and four alters and added six steals.

• NC State’s largest lead was seven points and Florida State’s was 10. NC State led for 16:04 and FSU for 20:53. The game was tied for 3:03.

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