Quick hits and notes from NC State Wolfpack basketball’s 75-61 win over Davidson in the first round of the NIT in Denton, Texas on Thursday evening.

We cannot show the highlight because the play-by-play announcer butchered the call, but NC State was able to win the opening tap in spectacular fashion. The result was leading to a breakout for junior forward Jericole Hellems and an uncontested two-handed dunk two seconds into the game.

It was a quick start for the Wolfpack, not the "Tar Heels" as called on TV.

There were two that really stood out, both involving dunks by redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates off excellent passes.

The first was freshman guard Shakeel Moore setting up Bates for a jam with 3:07 to go in the first half, giving the Wolfpack a 35-22 lead. Moore looked like he was about to set up for a mid-range jumper when he fooled the defense with an alert pass.

Funderburk had the second, providing a nice pass after drawing the defense under the basket to an unguarded Bates with 5:34 left, putting the Wolfpack up 67-51.

This was an easy selection: Funderburk.

Playing with a purpose, Funderburk made 8 of 10 shots from the field and all four of his free throw attempts for 21 points to go with seven rebounds and the aforementioned assist.

It was one point off from Funderburk's career-high for points and was just his sixth assist of the year. Funderburk has now scored at least 20 points in a game five times in his Wolfpack career.

He currently has 951 career points. If NC State can win its next NIT game, barring having to miss any game he would be guaranteed three more contests to try to reach 1,000 points.

Funderburk probably knew he was in for a good evening when he made his first shot attempt, a three-pointer. It was just his second made three this year. He nearly had another, but review showed that Funderburk's toe was on the line. Thus, for the season Funderburk is now 2 for 14 on three-pointers.

NC State was tied only once, at 2-2. The Wolfpack jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game, and it spent much of the contest leading by double-digits.

Davidson's one run at the Wolfpack came at the end of the first half and into the second. NC State was leading 40-27 when the Wildcats got five straight points from junior post player Luka Brajkovic before halftime intermission.

Two straight baskets by Davidson to start the second, including one more from Brajkovic, cut NC State's advantage to 40-36. The Wolfpack responded with an 11-2 spurt and with 12:52 left was back up 51-38.

The game was never within single digits again, and at one point stretched out to 21 points when NC State led 65-44 with 8:50 remaining.

The only other game this season where the Wolfpack never trailed was when it defeated North Florida 86-51, the second contest of the year for NC State.

One game after shooting a season-worst 36.2 percent from the field in an 89-68 loss to Syracuse in the ACC Tournament, NC State responded by having its best shooting performance in the 2020-21 campaign.

The Pack finished 30 of 51 overall, including 7 of 17 on three-pointers. Playing against one of the most prolific three-point shooting teams in the country, NC State was able to match Davidson's production from long range. The Wildcats went 7 of 24 from beyond the arc.

NC State's 58.8 percent from the field topped the 56.9 percent it had in a one-point, 74-73 win at Pittsburgh on Feb. 17 for its highest shooting accuracy of the season.

The Wolfpack did it by mainly by just making shots. It had 12 assists on the 30 made baskets, or 40.0 percent. That's the eighth lowest percentage of shots made off assists in its 24 games this season.

After going with the same starting lineup during its recent six-game stretch, head coach Kevin Keatts went with a more veteran presence in the starting lineup to start the NIT, inserting senior guard Braxton Beverly in place of freshman wing Dereon Seabron.

Beverly had seven points and a team-high five assists. Seabron had a nice game off the bench, contributing seven points in 16 minutes and having a steal while making just his fifth three-pointer of the year.

However, the story of this game was the play of Funderburk, Bates and junior forward Jericole Hellems.

Bates finished with 14 points while making all seven of his shot attempts and added a team-high eight rebounds. That was one off of Bates' career high for made field goals in a game, set previously this season at Saint Louis.

Hellems added 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, including 2 of 4 three pointers.

Those three were NC State's lone double-digit scorers in the game.

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

First half

20:00-14:45: NC State 14, Davidson 4

14:45-11:16: Davidson 7, NC State 6

11:16-7:52: NC State 7, Davidson 3

7:52-3:30: Davidson 8, NC State 6

3:30-Halftime: Davidson 10, NC State 7

Second half

20:00-14:32: NC State 6, Davidson 6

14:32-11:41: NC State 8, Davidson 3

11:41-7:58: NC State 11, Davidson 5

7:58-2:52: Davidson 10, NC State 5

2:52-Final: NC State 5, Davidson 5

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

• Beverly: +21 (31 minutes played)

• Hellems: +16 (32)

• Freshman guard Cam Hayes: +13 (34)

• Funderburk: +10 (34)

• Bates: +8 (32)

• Seabron: +7 (16)

• Freshman forward Jaylon Gibson: 0 (3)

• Freshman forward Nick Farrar: 0 (1)

• Freshman center Ebenezer Dowuona: 0 (1)

• Sophomore guard Chase Graham: 0 (1)

• Freshman guard Shakeel Moore: -5 (13)

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

Funderburk — 20.0

Bates — 14.2

Hellems — 8.4

Hayes — 8.2

Beverly — 3.9

Seabron — 3.9

Gibson — 2.9

Dowuona — 0

Farrar — 0

Graham — -0.7

Moore — -1.4

NC State improves to 14-10 and Davidson's season is over at 13-9. The Wolfpack is 7-6 away from home, including 2-1 in neutral games, and 7-6 in night games (tipoff after 6 p.m.). NC State is 10-6 in weekday contests.

Next for the Pack is a game on Thursday, March 25 vs. the winner of Friday night's game between Colorado State and Buffalo.

The Wolfpack leads the all-time series with Davidson, 70-14, including 17-2 since NC State was part of the formation of the ACC.

NC State improves to 19-13 in NIT games and wins its eighth straight first-round game in the event (this is the Pack's 13th all-time appearance).

This game was televised on ESPN. Throughout the year, we kept track of the Pack's record on the different channels:

• ESPNU: 1-0

• ACC Network: 10-6

• ESPN: 2-1

• RSN: 2-2

We also tracked NC State’s records by month:

• November: 2-0

• December: 4-1

• January: 1-5

• February: 5-3

• March: 2-1

• NC State won the points in the paint, 38-26.

• The Wolfpack had a 12-4 edge in fast break points.

• The Wildcats' bench outscored NC State's reserves, 17-12.

• NC State won the turnover margin 10-9, and converted that to a 12-11 edge in points off them.

• The Pack won on the boards, 29-24 overall. Davidson had a 7-6 edge on the offensive glass (partially due to Davidson shooting 44.2 percent compared to NC State's 58.8). NC State still had a 9-6 advantage in second-chance points.

• Defensively, NC State had no blocks for the second straight game and five steals. Davidson had three blocks and added five steals.

• NC State's largest advantage was 21 points and it led for 39:10.

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