Quick hits and notes from NC State Wolfpack basketball’s 68-61 win at Virginia inside John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville on Wednesday evening.

NC State did an excellent job of seemingly answering all of Virginia's charges in the final 10 minutes of the game, but there was one shot in particular where it became apparent this was likely to be the Wolfpack's night.

Virginia senior forward Sam Hauser made a three-pointer to cut the Wolfpack's lead to 54-49 with 3:39 left. On the other end of the court, with the shot clock winding down, Wolfpack freshman guard Cam Hayes had to force up a long three over the outstretch reach of Virginia fifth-year senior center Jay Huff, a 7-footer and prolific shot blocker.

Hayes' three banked in and NC State took a 57-49 lead with 3:07 left.

There were several good candidates, but fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk gets the nod for coming up clutch.

His final stat line was 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field to go with six rebounds. However, when NC State went on an 12-2 run to take a 45-37 lead before Virginia called a timeout with 8:29 left, it was Funderburk who made sure the advantage would stay there.

Three times over the next 4:37, Funderburk answered a Virginia basket with one of his own. That included responding to Huff making a three-pointer with a three-point play with 3:52 to go, the final points of nine straight he scored for the Wolfpack that put NC State ahead 54-46.

This is the Wolfpack's fourth straight ACC road win. That has not happened in the same season since the national title-winning 1974 squad did it. Technically, the last time NC State won four straight ACC away contests was the final two league games of 1980-81 and first two of 1981-82.

This is the first time that the Wolfpack has won a game against a ranked opponent on the road since it upset No. 10 UNC in overtime on Jan. 27, 2018 during head coach Kevin Keatts' first season in Raleigh.

Under Keatts, who is now 9-19 against ranked opponents for NC State and 2-2 this year, the Pack has had a fair share of close calls in road game vs. rated teams. State is 3-10 vs. teams in the top 25 away from home, but six of those losses have been by seven points or less.

NC State has now won two straight over Virginia in Charlottesville, and technically that makes two consecutive road wins over the defending national champion. Per The Wolfpacker contributor Tim Peeler, Keatts has three of NC State's nine all-time wins against reigning champs.

The other was the aforementioned 2018 road win in Chapel Hill.

Some notable differences between NC State's seven-point win on Wednesday evening in Charlottesville, Va., and its seven-point home loss to the Cavaliers on Feb. 3.

• In game one, Virginia went 20 of 22 at the line and had a plus-13-point margin on free throws. This time, while the Cavs made all 14 of its free throws it was outscored by the Pack by nine points there.

• There was an eight-point swing in points off turnovers. Virginia outscored the Pack by four points when the Cavs won, but NC State had a four-point advantage on Wednesday.

• NC State won in the paint the first time these two teams faced each other, 30-22, but it was more dominant in game two, 30-16.

• Individually in game one, the freshmen trio of Hayes, Shakeel Moore and Dereon Seabron combined for eight points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and five turnovers.

In game two, those same three had 33 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and five turnovers. Hayes (16 points) and Moore (12) joined Funderburk in double figures. It is the third straight double-digit scoring game for Hayes and was one off his career-high set against UMass Lowell.

The only weird line from Hayes: zero assists for just the second time this year. However, he also did not turn it over.

• For Virginia, guard Trey Murphy tied for a team-high 18 points in the win in Raleigh. In Charlottesville, he had two points before fouling out.

NC State moves a full game ahead of Notre Dame into 10th place in the league standings. If all 15 teams show up and play in the ACC Tournament, the Pack would play Boston College in the opening round for the right to face seventh-seeded, as of now, Duke.

To receive a bye into the second round, aside from winning they would need Syracuse, the current nine seed with a 7-6 conference mark, to lose at least twice. The Orange plays at Georgia Tech on Saturday before hosting UNC and Clemson to close its regular season.

Two of the Pack's final three ACC games that are scheduled — home vs. Pittsburgh on Sunday and at Notre Dame next Wednesday — are against teams currently below the Wolfpack in the ACC standings. The regular-season finale is scheduled to be Virginia Tech in Raleigh March. 6. The Hokies are currently third in the ACC with an 8-4 conference mark.

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

First half

20:00-14:36: NC State 11, Virginia 4

14:36-11:38: NC State 4, Virginia 0

11:38-7:50: NC State 6, Virginia 6

7:50-3:45: Virginia 7, NC State 4

3:45-Halftime: Virginia 6, NC State 4

Second half

20:00-15:58: Virginia 6, NC State 2

15:58-11:43: NC State 8, Virginia 6

11:43-7:35: NC State 8, Virginia 4

7:35-3:52: Virginia 7, NC State 6

3:52-Final: NC State 14, Virginia 14

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

• Senior guard Braxton Beverly: +12 (20 minutes played)

• Redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates: +8 (28)

• Seabron: +6 (29)

• Moore: +5 (24)

• Junior forward Jericole Hellems: +4 (37)

• Hayes: +1 (30)

• Funderburk: -1 (31)

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

Hayes — 15.8

Funderburk — 10.4

Hellems — 7.6

Moore — 6.7

Bates — 5.9

Beverly — 3.8

Seabron — 3.6

NC State improves to 11-9 overall and 7-8 in the ACC while Virginia is 15-6 and 11-4. The Wolfpack is now 5-5 on the road (4-5 in true road contests) and 5-6 in night games (tipoff after 6 p.m.). NC State is 8-5 in weekday contests (5-2 on Wednesdays).

The Wolfpack leads the all-time series with the Cavaliers, 84-68, and it improves to 25-41 in Charlottesville, including 2-8 in John Paul Jones Arena.

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: 8-5

• ESPN: 1-1

• RSN: 2-2

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

• November: 2-0

• December: 4-1

• January: 1-5

• February: 4-3

• NC State won the points in the paint, 30-16.

• There was not a single fast-break point scored.

• NC State's bench outscored Virginia's reserves, 17-6.

• The Wahoos won the turnover margin 9-8, but NC State had a 9-5 edge in points off them. It is just the second time the Pack won a game this season in which its opponent committed less than 15 turnovers.

• The Pack won on the boards, 31-30 overall, but Virginia had a 9-6 edge on the offensive glass. The Cavaliers turned that into a decisive 10-2 advantage in second-chance points.

• Defensively, NC State had four blocks and six steals. Virginia had six blocks and added five steals.

• NC State's largest advantage was 14 points and it led for 35:08. Virginia's only lead was just two points, and it was up for just 48 seconds.

——

• Talk about it inside The State of Basketball

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook