The year 2020 has been everything but normal.

That trend continued Tuesday night in PNC Arena when NC State (5-1, 1-0 ACC) defeated No. 17 North Carolina (5-3, 0-1 ACC) 79-76, handing the Wolfpack its first home victory over its arch-nemesis since 2013.

Fourth-year Pack head coach Kevin Keatts earned his first home win over the Tar Heels before a limited crowd of essential personnel, player families and media.

Despite the noticeable absence of 19,000 Wolfpack fans that would have been consistently on their feet during the 40-minute thriller, Keatts didn’t speculate whether the lack of spectators made any impact on the final result.

“I don't know if we ever will know that,” Keatts said. “It's one of those things that we've talked about. I think the way we play helps us a little bit differently than some other teams. Because we press, it forces you to use energy, and you become your own energy at times. I don't know. I hope our fans, and I know they are, are at home enjoying the victory. We got great fans, I wish they were here to see it, but in the same token, it doesn't take away from the win.”

While Keatts wished that NC State fans were able to experience the win in PNC Arena, there was nothing bitter about the sweetness the head coach felt after his first home victory over the rival Tar Heels.

“Any win in this conference is golden,” Keatts said. “It doesn't matter if it's UNC or bittersweet. It doesn't take away from it, there won't be an asterisk by it. It was a good game, it was a good win, and we're excited about it. We're excited about winning any game in this conference, even if we had to play outside.”

Tuesday marked just the third loss North Carolina head coach Roy Williams has suffered against the Wolfpack in PNC Arena since he was hired for the job in 2003. It was also the first time an unranked NC State team defeated the Tar Heels in Raleigh since 2007 in former head coach Sidney Lowe’s first season.

Freshman guard Shakeel Moore was already one of the best defenders on NC State before the Pack opened conference play with the North Carolina win. He showed Tuesday night that his elite athleticism translates to the offensive end too.

In 15 minutes on the floor, Moore had 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a 3-of-4 mark on three-point attempts, two steals and one rebound. The 6-1, 180-pounder showed he could score at all three levels.

Just over a minute after entering the game during the first media timeout in the first half, Moore drained two corner threes of back-to-back possessions. He followed it up with a steal at halfcourt on the very next play, which resulted in a fast-break dunk. Eight points in a span of 59 seconds.

A minute later, he splashed a mid-range jumper to become the first Pack player to reach double figures in just eight first-half minutes.

He changed the game again in the second half with a dunk that was worth only two points on the scoreboard but likely felt like 10 points to the Wolfpack bench.

With a two-point Wolfpack lead and just over 10 minutes remaining, Moore had a good look from the corner for what could have been his fourth triple of the night. Instead of taking the shot, Moore wisely pump-faked a closing Garrison Brooks, dribbled right on a baseline drive and delivered a devastating left-handed slam over North Carolina seven-footer Walker Kessler.

“It was definitely a turning point,” Moore said. “For our team, we're big on energy, defense, pressure, all those types of things. With me being able to hit those shots, they started hard-closing me. I just figured one simple pump fake and rip baseline, I could get that and show my athleticism there.”

Despite playing Moore for just 15 minutes, Keatts couldn’t have been prouder of his four-star freshman guard’s breakout performance after the success fellow rookie guard Cam Hayes had found in the first three contests of the season.

“He was fearless, tough,” Keatts said. “He didn't know he was playing UNC. The only reason he knew he was playing UNC because you guys told him after the game. He loves to play. Between him and Cam Hayes, we've got two really talented guards. Obviously, those guys are really good, but he made shots. What an unbelievable dunk he had, he's a great defender. It was good for him to play well for us.”

As for why he didn’t stick with the hot-handed Moore late in the second half, Keatts said that he wanted to stick with a veteran lineup during crunch time with the game on the line.

“Those guys have earned the right to finish the game,” Keatts said. “There has been so much negative things said about Braxton Beverly over the years, but he's a calming effect. He keeps everybody calm, he's a tough kid. I wanted him with the ball in his hands at the end of the game. I went with the guys who I feel like could finish the game.”

For Moore, his ACC debut was personal. North Carolina started two freshmen guards, Caleb Love and RJ Davis, who both played at least 28 minutes Tuesday night. In the final class of 2020 Rivals150, Love and Davis ranked No. 17 and No. 52, respectively. Comparatively, Moore and Hayes were ranked No. 115 and No. 76, respectively.

The Wolfpack freshman guards outplayed their higher-rated counterparts consistently throughout the contest.

“Our senior years, we played together on CP3, and we had seen those guys all summer,” Moore said. “It wasn't anything new to us. It was just something to keep the chip on our shoulder and show that we're just as good of guards as they are, if not better.”

For NC State to pull off the win over the 17th-ranked Tar Heels with a short-handed roster, the Wolfpack needed a strong performance from its veteran guards. Fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels delivered exactly that.

Daniels led the Pack with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including a 2-of-3 mark from the perimeter. He was also active on the boards with five rebounds, two of which came on the offensive end. He added three assists and one steal to stuff his stat sheet.

“He's matured,” Keatts said. “In the past, he can shoot you in games and shoot you out of it. I know what type of player I have in him, so I wanted to trust my older guys. He made plays. You should have seen him in the first half when he's sitting on the bench. Through every timeout, he's cheering these guys on and encouraging him.

“I'm excited about his maturity. That's one of the things that I'm going to take away from this game. Devon Daniels, I think, took a big step forward, as far as a leader today.”

Many of those plays came late in the second half when the Pack needed the most. Daniels scored 12 of his 21 points in the second half and was the only Wolfpack player in double figures during the closing 20 minutes.

North Carolina shrunk NC State’s lead to one point with 8:38 remaining following a three-point play by Tar Heels guard Andrew Platek.

That’s when Daniels took over. The 6-5 guard scored the next eight Wolfpack points, which included a three-pointer, a transition layup and a three-point play of his own. It sparked a 14-2 run for the Pack, giving NC State a 13-point lead it would ultimately hold on to in the final five minutes of the contest.

“I didn't even know the game got to one point,” Daniels said. “I was really just in the moment, having fun, playing hard and trying to get a dub for Wolfpack Nation. If that's how it went, if I got the hot hand at that moment, I'm glad I did, but it's not like I was searching for it.”

“During the game, I could feel the growth with this team. This was a full team effort. Even the guys who didn't get in the game, we felt their energy on the court. We really stuck together. They went off on runs, they competed, they're a great team, a great program, but even with all the young players, even with some guys sitting out, we came together and got the win.”

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