Quick hits from NC State's win at Virginia

Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 53-51 win at Virginia in front of 14,163 fans at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va. on a cold Monday evening.

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NC State made four huge shots in the final four minutes of the game, and you could pick any one of those:

• Sophomore forward Jericole Hellems ending an over 10-minute scoring drought and a 15-0 Virginia run by making a three-pointer with 3:38 left to cut the Cavaliers’ lead to 46-45.

• Senior guard Markell Johnson nailing a three-pointer with 2:45 left to put NC State up for good at 48-47.

• Hellems out-battling Virginia forward Mamadi Diakite for a loose ball on the rebound and getting a put-back layup with 1:30 remaining to give the Pack a 50-47 lead.

• Fifth-year senior C.J. Bryce beating the shot clock with his patented 15-footer to give NC State a 52-47 lead with 27.0 seconds remaining.

In tribute to Virginia’s preferred style of play, there is no highlight of the game in this quick hits because basically this contest was devoid of many of those moments.

NC State held a 28-26 halftime lead almost entirely because of redshirt junior center DJ Funderburk, who finished the contest with 14 points (12 were in the first half) and five rebounds before fouling out in questionable fashion. It is the second time this year Funderburk has fouled out of a game (also did so in a loss to Memphis Nov. 28) after he did it six times last season.

Here are Funderburk’s game-by-game points and rebounds since the turn of the new year:

Jan. 4 at Clemson – 14 points (5-of-8 shooting), five rebounds.

Jan. 8 vs. Notre Dame – 16 points (4-of-6 shooting), nine rebounds

Jan. 11 at Virginia Tech – 18 points (7-of-13 shooting), nine rebounds

Jan. 15 vs. Miami – 19 points (5-of-12 shooting), eight rebounds

Jan. 18 vs. Clemson – 13 points (5-of-6 shooting), 11 rebounds

Jan. 20 at Virginia – 14 points (6-of-8 shooting), five rebounds

In the six contests this calendar year, he is averaging 15.7 points and 7.8 rebounds a game.

One can’t blame NC State officials for asking around about where the best place to find some ice cream in Charlottesville, Va. was as part of head coach Kevin Keatts’ post-road win tradition. It's been awhile since the Wolfpack won at Virginia.

The last time NC State won in Charlottesville was March 2, 2005, when …

• John Paul Jones Arena didn’t even exist, and Virginia was still playing at University Hall. JPJ opened the following season.

• Dave Leitao was the head coach for Virginia and Herb Sendek led NC State.

• Julius Hodge was a senior for NCSU.

• Current Pack head coach Kevin Keatts was a 32-year-old who had started his second stint at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., two years before that.

• Virginia head coach Tony Bennett was an assistant coach at Washington State.

• George W. Bush was beginning his second term as president.

• “Let Me Love You” by Mario was in its last week of a nine-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

NC State took a 42-31 lead when Bryce made a three-pointer with 13:51 left, and an offensively challenged Virginia team was facing the danger zone when Bennett called a timeout.

What followed was NCSU did not score a single point until Hellems’ three-pointer with 3:38 left, a drought of 10:13 that allowed the Cavaliers to seemingly be on its way to another home win over the Pack.

In that long stretch, NC State missed seven shots (including two three-pointers), turned it over five times and missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw (by Johnson). Prior to that stretch, NC State had just one turnover in the entire game.

NC State played this game without the services of redshirt freshman center Manny Bates, who did not even make the trip, and senior forward Pat Andree, who was in a boot on the bench. That left NC State with just seven healthy scholarship players available two days after playing Clemson.

Then Funderburk, NC State's best player thus far in ACC play this year, was hit as part of a double technical with 7:13 left after replays showed Virginia redshirt freshman center Francisco Caffaro delivering an elbow to Funderburk’s back. Caffaro claimed after the game that Funderburk had previously grabbed his injured thumb, which sparked the incident.

Funderburk would foul out 25 seconds later on another questionable officiating decision.

Then NC State was hit by an unusually long scoring drought that saw an 11-point lead turn into a 4-point deficit with less than four minutes left on the road in a hostile environment.

Not many teams win games with those circumstances.

Virginia has done a good job of playing ugly this season, partially out of necessity because of its own offensive shortcomings. Nine of Virginia’s 18 opponents have scored less than 50 points on the Cavs this season. A 10th, Syracuse, had 43 points in regulation but exploded for 20 points in overtime of a 63-55 win.

Famed halftime performer Red Panda was back. Unofficially NC State is 3-0 this year in games where she provides entertainment at the break.

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

First half

20:00-15:08: NC State 8, Virginia 8

15:08-11:38: NC State 3, Virginia 2

11:38-7:34: NC State 9, Virginia 9

7:34-3:49: Virginia 5, NC State 4

3:49-Halftime: NC State 4, Virginia 2

Second half

20:00-15:23: NC State 10, Virginia 5

15:23-11:27: NC State 4, Virginia 0

11:27-7:31: Virginia 6, NC State 0

7:31-3:14: Virginia 9, NC State 3

3:14-Final: NC State 8, Virginia 5

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

Funderburk: 11.6

Bryce: 7.6

Junior guard Braxton Beverly: 4.6

Johnson: 4.1

Hellems: 3.0

Senior center Danny Dixon: 2.8

Daniels: 0.6

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

• Johnson +7 (38 minutes played)

• Beverly +6 (24)

• Hellems +4 (24)

• Funderburk +3 (29)

• Bryce +1 (38)

• Dixon -4 (14)

• Daniels -7 (34)

NC State is 14-5 overall and 5-3 in the ACC, while Virginia is 12-6 and 4-4. The Wolfpack now leads the all-time series 83-67 after snapping an eight-game skid to Virginia, and is 1-8 at John Paul Jones Arena. Virginia has a 41-24 record against the Pack all time in Charlottesville.

The Pack is 3-4 away from home this year, including 3-3 in true road games. NC State is 7-2 in night games (played after 6 p.m.), 6-3 in weekday games and 13-1 when leading at halftime.

The game was broadcast on ESPN. 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: 4-1

- ACC Network: 3-2

- ESPN2: 2-2

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

- November: 5-2

- December: 5-1

- January: 4-2

• NC State won the battle in the paint, 26-24.

• The Pack had a slight edge in fast-break points, 8-6.

• Virginia’s bench beat NC State’s reserves, 17-5.

• The Pack had the edge in turnover margin 10-6, and NC State won in points off turnovers, 12-10.

• Virginia won the battle on the boards, 40-30 overall with an 11-7 edge on the offensive glass. The Cavs had a 10-4 advantage on second-chance points.

• Defensively, NC State had two blocks and nabbed four steals. The Cavaliers had six blocks and three steals.

• NC State’s largest lead was 14 points, while Virginia’s was four. NC State led for 27:46 compared to 5:33 for the Cavs. The game was tied for 6:41.

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