Take yourself back to New Years' Eve 2020. NC State was 6-1 overall and undefeated in ACC play.

The Wolfpack had just beaten then-ranked No. 17 North Carolina at home for the third time since 2003, marking head coach Kevin Keatts’ first win over the Tar Heels in PNC Arena.

Eight days later, the Pack held off a scrappy Boston College team with late-game heroics from freshman guard Shakeel Moore.

All was good in Raleigh. NC State had positioned itself as a legitimate contender in the ACC with an ideal roster makeup of experienced veterans and young talent.

Unfortunately, a lot can change in one month.

On the second anniversary of the Wolfpack’s now-notorious 47-24 loss to Virginia Tech in 2019, pegged by many as one of the worst games in modern college basketball history, let’s examine what went wrong for the Pack in January and what it means moving forward.

Had NC State found a way to finish off a game it led for 36 minutes in Littlejohn Coliseum on Jan. 5 and took care of business against a struggling Miami squad at home the following Saturday, the Wolfpack would have cracked the Top 25 with a 4-0 start in conference play.

Instead, the Pack let a late lead slip in Clemson and later lost in overtime to what was a highly-respected Tigers squad at the time.