After losing six of its last seven games, including three by five points or less, NC State needed a win to get back on track.

The Wolfpack (8-7, 4-6 ACC) did exactly that in devastating fashion Saturday in Conte Forum, defeating Boston College (3-11, 1-7 ACC) 81-65.

The Pack exploited a clear size advantage over the out-manned Eagles. NC State outrebounded Boston College 40-27 and outscored BC 42-22 in the paint.

“Our game plan was to throw the ball inside,” Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts said. “Our guards executed that.”

Redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates and fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk each scored 14 points and reeled in seven rebounds. The two NC State big men combined for 10-of-15 shooting and made all eight of their free-throw attempts.

Junior forward Jericole Hellems added 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including a 1-of-2 mark from behind the three-point line. He also produced three rebounds and one steal.

“Manny Bates, Jericole and DJ have been playing really good basketball,” Keatts said. “They've been special for us ever since Devon [Daniels] was gone, and I've been trying to get some guards to play better with them.

“Since Devon has been out, this is our third game, but we played well enough to be able to win at Syracuse and against No. 14 UVA. We just needed other guys to be able to step up and help these guys. They've been tremendous. Jericole obviously didn't have the hot hand, but I thought Manny and DJ were tremendous inside.”

For the third straight contest, NC State won the battle on the offensive glass. The Wolfpack grabbed 10 offensive rebounds compared to just six from Boston College.

The Pack was able to take advantage of those opportunities in Chestnut Hill, outsourcing the Eagles 19-4 on second-chance points.

Freshman guard Shakeel Moore hadn’t scored in double figures since the Wolfpack’s first meeting with Boston College this season, a 79-76 home win on Dec. 30.

The 6-1, 180-pounder must have something against the Eagles.

Moore scored a career-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting Saturday, including a 3-of-4 mark from the perimeter. He also pitched in six rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 23 minutes in the win.

“The kid’s probably the best paint-touch guy that I've seen in a long time,” Keatts said. “He's a gritty, hard-nosed defender. When you pull up his stats, he was taking a lot of threes. He had fallen in love with the three-point line. Our conversation the other day, actually it was yesterday, was, 'Man, I need you. You're the only guy really that I can consistently get into the paint.'

“Braxton [Beverly] is a three-point shooter, Thomas [Allen] is a three-point shooter, [Dereon] Seabron does it a little bit different, so I needed him to be able to get into the paint and make plays. We're a good basketball team when we have somebody that can get paint touches from our guard spot.”

Keatts has repeatedly mentioned how his freshmen guards have been thrown into the fire of ACC play this year due to a shortened offseason and a lack of non-conference games in 2020-21. Freshman guards take time to mature, time that has not been afforded to this season’s class of first-year players.

“I’m trying to get those guys that grow up really fast,” Keatts said Saturday. “I know people say, 'Golly, it's February, you're trying to get them to grow up?' But any freshman in the country, unless you have been playing 25-30 minutes a game... They haven't had game experience. They haven't been able to go through what we've been through in the past with non-conference.”

Moore displayed flashes of wisdom on top of his impressive stat line Saturday.

One moment that stuck out was a late first-half decision by the freshman guard. Moore stole a pass and pushed the ball in transition with 36 seconds left until halftime. The Pack had just missed its last three shots in a row after settling for consecutive jumpers when it was finding most of its success in the post.

Moore pulled up to the three-point line and thought about attempting a somewhat-contested three early in the shot clock.

Instead, he hesitated and swung the ball out to Beverly, who found Funderburk wide-open in the lane for an easy layup to end an 8-0 Boston College run.

“There's definitely some maturity and growth there,” Moore said. “Shot selection is very important at this level, and that's a higher-percentage shot. I feel like swinging the ball around and getting it down low, if I don't have an immediate catch and shoot, then that's the higher percentage shot. I do feel like maturity played a big role there.”

NC State claimed its first road win of the season Saturday, marking the time the Wolfpack has come out victorious in an away game since Feb. 11, 2020 when the Pack defeated Syracuse 79-74 in the Carrier Dome.

Keatts has a tradition of treating his players to post-game ice cream after pulling off a road win. In a normal season, the Pack would pull the team bus up to a local ice cream joint and enjoy a sweet treat after a hard-earned victory.

Considering programs around the country have changed most of their normal routines in an effort to minimize potential exposure to COVID-19, the tradition may be a little different this season.

Nonetheless, Keatts assured that the Wolfpack would get its ice cream Saturday, one way or another.

“You know what, we are going to get ice cream,” Keatts said. “We are going to get ice cream, even if it's got to be delivered to us, but we will have ice cream today.”

The head coach joked that the postgame tradition may have cursed the Pack earlier this season during an ACC road trip back in January.

Similar to the common understanding of not speaking to a pitcher in the dugout during a bid for a perfect game, Keatts doesn’t want anyone approaching him about road win ice cream until the victory is secured.

“I pay a couple of guys a lot of money to try to figure that out,” Keatts said. “Chris Zupko, who is one of my directors, we were going into Clemson... I'll give you guys this. Y'all can print this too, this is why we lost the Clemson game. Not because they scored more points than us, we lost it because we were walking into Clemson, I was walking beside him, and he's like, 'Coach, I'm going to take the bus, and I'm going to go see where we can get ice cream.' I was like, ‘Man, that's the kiss of death.’

“You can't do that before the game. If you do that, don't tell me. I hate that because I'm so superstitious.”

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