Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 77-73 win over Pittsburgh in front of 15,818 fans at PNC Arena in Raleigh on Saturday afternoon.

This was a weird game in which Pitt seemingly hung on by a thread for about 33 minutes. The dam finally broke with 6:53 left in the contest when Wolfpack sophomore forward Jericole Hellems made a three-pointer to put NC State up for the first time at 62-61.

It was another three however that is the play of the game. Fifth-year senior guard C.J. Bryce connected on a long-range jumper with 5:50 left that put the Wolfpack up for good at 65-63.

For NC State:

For Pitt

In the final minute during a timeout, the PNC Arena PA announcer congratulated NC State redshirt freshman center Manny Bates on his first career double-double, which was met with roaring approval from the crowd. Bates tried hard to suppress a grin as he stood outside the team huddle but was having a hard time.

Bates earned the adulation. He made 5 of 6 shots from the field and 3 of 5 free throws for 13 points to go with 10 rebounds and five blocks. It was a personal-best in scoring and his first ever double-digit rebounding effort. The five blocks matched his high for an ACC game.

Bates now has 81 rejections on the season in 27 games, an average of 3.0. With good health, Bates has a minimum of three games left. He needs 15 blocks to tie Thurl Bailey’s school record set in 36 games during the 1982-83 campaign for most blocks in a single season.

Pittsburgh scored on its opening possession when sophomore guard Au’Diese Toney made a three-pointer. From that point till that aforementioned Hellems three, the Panthers mostly led the entire way, twice by as much as seven points but for the vast majority of the time in a range between one and five points.

There were five ties along the way, but NC State never was able to punch through. That included junior guard Braxton Beverly missing a pair of technical foul free throws when NC State was down 44-43 with 14:07 remaining.

The situation was beginning to look dire with 7:36 left and Pitt leading 61-55. That is when NC State began a decisive 15-3 run to finally seize control of the contest.

The win will not do much to enhance NC State’s tournament resume, and given that it trailed most of the contest the Wolfpack’s standing in the NET may even take a small drop. However, the Pack avoided having its bubble burst, too.

Hap tip to The Wolfpacker contributor Tim Peeler with this nugget:

It has not happened much this season in ACC play, but NC State was the beneficiary of a favorable game at the line.

The Pack was fairly clutch on the free throws, making 20 of 27 for 74.1 percent. Pitt on the other hand, struggled. It made just 15 of 27 for 55.6 percent. That 12-point margin at the line turned out to the difference in a game that was fairly even elsewhere statistically.

Some of the poor efforts at the line for Pitt came from unlikely sources. Freshman wing Justin Champagnie was 3 of 6 after coming into Saturday shooting 80.0 percent from there. Grad transfer Eric Hamilton was a 76.6-percent free throw shooter, but he made 6 of 11 on Saturday. Sophomore guard Trey McGowens, a 74.6-percent shooter, missed both of his attempts.

A few former players seen included Scott Wood and Ralston Turner. Also at the game was recently offered class of 2022 forward M.J. Rice of Durham (N.C.) Academy.

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

First half

20:00-14:42: Pittsburgh 11, NC State 10

14:42-11:45: NC State 4, Pittsburgh 3

11:45-8:14: Pittsburgh 9, NC State 2

8:14-3:49: NC State 9, Pittsburgh 5

3:49-Halftime: NC State 5, Pittsburgh 3

Second half

20:00-15:58: Pittsburgh 9, NC State 8

15:58-11:20: NC State 13, Pittsburgh 13

11:20-7:36: Pittsburgh 8, NC State 4

7:36-4:29: NC State 13, Pittsburgh 2

4:29-Final: Pittsburgh 10, NC State 8

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

Bates: 18.5

Hellems: 11.2

Bryce: 10.6

Fifth-year senior forward D.J. Funderburk: 8.8

Senior guard Markell Johnson: 5.9

Redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels: 2.4

Beverly: 0.9

Senior forward Pat Andree: -1.0

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

• Hellems +11 (16:35 played)

• Daniels +10 (36:45)

• Bates +6 (26:48)

• Johnson +4 (38:13)

• Bryce +4 (33:56)

• Funderburk +2 (29:17)

• Andree -8 (2:12)

• Beverly -9 (16:14)

NC State is 18-11 overall and 9-9 in the ACC, and Pittsburgh is 15-15 and 6-13. NC State has owned the series against Pitt, 18-2 overall and nine straight victories. It is the best winning percentage that NC State has against any team in the ACC.

The Pack is 12-4 in home games this year. NC State is 9-6 in day games (played before 6 p.m.), 9-6 in weekend games and 2-8 when trailing 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: 5-4

- ESPN: 2-3

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

- November: 5-2

- December: 5-1

- January: 4-4

- February: 4-4

• NC State won the battle in the paint, 40-36.

• The Panthers had the edge in fast break points, 15-12.

• State’s bench outscored Pitt’s reserves 21-17.

• Both teams had 17 turnovers, but more importantly Pitt had an advantage in points off turnovers, 21-15.

• NC State won the battle on the boards, 36-34 overall, while both teams grabbed 15 offensive rebounds. Pitt beat the Pack on second-chance points, 15-8.

• Defensively, NC State had eight blocks, altered three shots and nabbed eight steals. The Panthers had three blocks, eight alters and added 10 steals.

• NC State’s largest lead was eight points and Pitt’s was seven. NC State led for 6:04 and Pitt for 30:14. The game was tied for 3:42.

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