Quick hits and notes from NC State Wolfpack basketball’s 74-73 win at Pittsburgh inside Petersen Events Center on Wednesday evening.

The game was tied 69-69 when Pittsburgh had a highlight moment that could have catapulted the Panthers to a win.

Sophomore guard Ithiel Horton took advantage of a fast break opportunity to execute a pretty, behind-the-back move to get around NC State senior guard Braxton Beverly to put Pittsburgh up 71-69 with 1:49 left.

The Wolfpack did not waste time responding, however. Quickly pushing back down the court, NC State fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk responded with a three-point play just eight seconds after Horton's shot. That put the Wolfpack up for good.

It's never too late to show the form that had everyone anticipating big things from you, and Funderburk did that on Wednesday.

Funderburk had his fourth straight double-digit scoring game, and his 16 points were the most since he had 20 in an overtime loss at Clemson on Jan. 5. He also matched his season-high with eight rebounds while playing a team-high 35 minutes.

Funderburk even had just his second assist of the season.

The performance could have been even better. The 84.2 percent free throw shooter who was 48 of 57 at the line this year going into Wednesday uncharacteristically went just 4 of 9 from the charity stripe on Wednesday.

For the 11th time in 18 games, NC State had a different starting lineup. This time, head coach Kevin Keatts went even bigger.

With redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen unavailable (see next note), and senior guard Braxton Beverly having not practiced since the loss to Duke on Saturday, Keatts inserted redshirt freshman Dereon Seabron as a starting guard in the backcourt alongside freshman Cam Hayes.

They joined a frontcourt of Funderburk, junior forward Jericole Hellems and redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates. Four of the five starters were at least 6-foot-7, with Hayes at 6-foot-3 that shortest listed player the court.

Seabron, playing with a heavy heart after losing a family member earlier in the day, responded with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting in 30 minutes. That, by eight minutes, was easily his season-high in playing time, and it was one point off his career-best scoring mark.

Ironically, Beverly had one of his best games of the season coming off the bench, scoring 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting overall, including 2 of 4 on three-pointers. It is only the third time in ACC play that Beverly was in double-digits in points scored. The last time he scored at least 10 points and made multiple threes in a game was the loss at Syracuse on Jan. 31.

Prior to the game, it was announced the Allen would not be available. He injured his ankle in practice on Monday. X-rays were negative, but Keatts said after the game, noting that he is "old-school" and doesn't know if it is a high or low ankle sprain, that he has no timetable for how long Allen might be out.

Keatts added that it is the same foot that Allen had surgery on last year while sitting out due to his transfer from Nebraska.

Allen has started 15 of 17 games this year and is averaging 7.4 points per contest while shooting 37.9 percent on three-pointers. He is the seventh player on the team to miss at least one game this season.

One thing that stood out about this game: just about every player could point towards a big contribution. In addition to the already noted numbers from Seabron, Funderburk and Beverly, here are some examples:

• Bates had a modest line of eight points, six rebounds and a blocked shot, but he also had a career-high three assists. And it was Bates that made a crucial hook shot in the lane to put the Wolfpack up 69-68 with 2:30 left.

• Hellems fouled out for the fourth time in a game this season, in part thanks to a silly technical foul when he slapped the ball out of the hands of Pitt star forward Justin Champagnie following a whistle. But when he was in the game, Hellems went 6 of 9 from the field and finished with a team-high 17 points in just 25 minutes.

Hellems has now scored in double digits in nine straight games, and in the six contests since the injury to fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels, Hellems is averaging 16.2 points and shooting 37 of 72 from the field (51.4 percent). He's also made 7 of 16 three-pointers (43.8 percent) in that span, including making his only try on Wednesday.

• Freshman guard Cam Hayes nearly had his first career double-double with 11 points and nine assists and was one off his personal best with three steals. It is the first time Hayes has scored in double digits in an ACC game, and he played a career-high 33 minutes.

Overall, NC State shot a season-best 56.9 percent from the field (29 of 51) and was one off its season high with 19 assists.

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

First half

20:00-15:30: NC State 12, Pittsburgh 9

15:30-11:14: NC State 6, Pittsburgh 5

11:14-7:32: NC State 10, Pittsburgh 7

7:32-4:28: Pittsburgh 8, NC State 6

4:28-Halftime: Pittsburgh 10, NC State 6

Second half

20:00-14:45: NC State 10, Pittsburgh 8

14:45-11:51: NC State 6, Pittsburgh 4

11:51-7:47: Pittsburgh 8, NC State 4

7:47-3:42: NC State 7, Pittsburgh 7

3:42-Final: NC State 7, Pittsburgh 7

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

• Bates: +3 (32 minutes played)

• Hellems: +3 (25)

• Beverly: +1 (22)

• Hayes: +1 (22)

• Funderburk: 0 (35)

• Freshman guard Shakeel Moore: -1 (23)

• Seabron: -2 (30)

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

Funderburk — 11.2

Hayes — 10.1

Hellems — 10.0

Bates — 9.6

Beverly — 6.2

Seabron — 4.2

Moore — 4.1

NC State improves to 9-9 overall and 5-8 in the ACC while Pittsburgh is 9-8 and 5-7. The Wolfpack is now 3-5 on the road (2-5 in true road contests) and 5-3 in day games (tipoff before 6 p.m.). NC State is 7-5 in weekday contests.

The Wolfpack has now won 10 straight against Pittsburgh and is 18-2 all-time against the Panthers. That includes an 11-1 mark in ACC play, during which the Pack is 4-0 at Petersen Events Center.

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

• ESPNU: 1-0

• ACC Network: 7-5

• ESPN: 1-1

• RSN: 1-2

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

• November: 2-0

• December: 4-1

• January: 1-5

• February: 2-3

• NC State won the points in the paint, 42-32.

• Pitt had the slightest edge in fast-break points, 11-10.

• The Panthers' bench outscored NC State's reserves, 27-14.

• Both teams had 14 turnovers, but NC State had a 21-16 edge in points off them.

• The Panthers won on the boards, 27-26 in overall rebounds and 11-8 on the offensive glass. NC State though had a 12-11 advantage in second-chance points.

• Defensively, NC State had one block and six steals. Pittsburgh had five blocks and added five steals.

• NC State's largest advantage was 10 points and it led for 36:02. NC State's biggest lead was just two points, and it was up for only 3:19.

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