There was nothing pretty about it, but NC State grinded out its fourth-straight victory Sunday in a 65-62 win over Pittsburgh.

The Wolfpack (12-9, 8-8 ACC) was held to a field goal average of 39 percent, which marked the third time this season the Pack shot 40 percent or less from the field in a single contest.

The other instances, against Saint Louis and Miami, resulted in losses. But this time, NC State found a way to pull out a much-needed victory over the Panthers (9-10, 5-9 ACC).

“We wouldn't have won this game a month ago,” Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts said. “Every team that you play in this league is going to present a different problem. I thought those guys did a good job of fighting. They got a lot of second-chance opportunities. They play with some toughness.

“It was good to see our guys figure out a way to win, figure out how to make some shots at the end, figure out how not to turn the ball over.”

All four of the Pack’s upperclassmen that played Sunday finished in double figures.

Junior forward Jericole Hellems has a team-high 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting, including a 2-of-4 mark from the three-point line. He also led the team with 10 rebounds and five assists.

Although both got into early foul trouble, fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk and redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates scored a combined 23 points.

Funderburk finished with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting and added three rebounds in 23 minutes.

Bates produced 10 points also on 4-of-7 shooting, along with six blocks and three rebounds.

Despite the contributions from the frontcourt, NC State was outrebounded 45-31 and outscored by Pittsburgh 28-26 in the paint.

The Panthers grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, 13 more than the Pack, which resulted in 14 second-chance points.

“It can't happen again,” Keatts said. “We found a way to win. One of the things I always look at on the stat sheet is how many more shots do we get than the other team. Well they took 11 more shots because they got 20 offensive rebounds. We talked about, 'Hey, we won, here's the great positive things, here's what we got to clean up.'

“We can't give up 20 offensive rebounds. They did a tremendous job, they rebounded. A lot of those came from Manny and DJ rotating over and other guys getting rebounds where our guards didn't get inside, so the rebounding I'm going to blame on our guards. We got to do a good job of breaking down.

“I don't like when Manny Bates has six blocks in a game. To me, that means we're getting beat off to dribble too much. So if he has six, that means he altered 10.”

For the fifth-consecutive game, senior guard Braxton Beverly came off of the bench for the Wolfpack.

Beverly joined his fellow upperclassmen teammates Sunday, providing just enough scoring production to help the Pack come away with the win.

Beverly finished with 14 points on 2-of-5 shooting, most notably a 2-of-4 mark from the perimeter. He also added two rebounds and one assist in 27 minutes, his most time on the floor since the home loss to Syracuse on Feb. 9.

“If I had to get an MVP for the game, I thought it was Braxton Beverly,” Keatts said. “He came in and obviously made some big shots. We've talked a lot about how well our freshmen have grown up, but it was our upperclassmen that carried us tonight. It was Braxton, then Jericole Hellems, Manny Bates and DJ Funderburk.”

When fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels suffered a season-ending ACL tear in late January, the absence of Daniels left Beverly as the lone senior in the Wolfpack backcourt.

The 6-0 guard from Hazard, Ky., has embraced the opportunity by stepping up into a leadership role with his freshman colleagues in the backcourt.

“I've been trying to do more coaching and teaching on the side, trying to embrace that role more,” Beverly said. “Any former player will tell you sometimes they don't always want to hear it from the coaches. Of course they're going to tell you what's right and what you need to hear, but sometimes it just don't sit as well from the coaches.

“Any former player will tell you that, so it's good that I get that chance to see what the young guards are doing on the court to start the game or when I'm on the bench. When they come out or come to a timeout or dead ball, I'll go up and talk to them. I try to give them a little more guidance.”

His head coach has seen Beverly directly impact both on and off of the court in NC State’s recent turnaround, which includes five wins in seven games.

In the Wolfpack’s current four-game win streak, Beverly is averaging 10.3 points in 22.8 minutes per contest. He’s also shot 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from behind the three-point line during that stretch.

“He's been great,” Keatts said. “It's made our job as coaches a little bit easier. Those guys, when I say those guys I mean Braxton, Manny, DJ, and even Jericole. They're always pulling these guys to the side. When we get on them or we praise them in practice as coaches, they're always, 'Hey man, don't worry about it, this is what you got to do to get better.'

“He's grown in a lot of ways. Whenever he stops playing basketball, you could see Braxton Beverly probably could get into coaching somewhere. He's been grateful. As you know, there's not another kid probably in the history of this program that has been criticized as much as Braxton Beverly, and at the end of the day, he's still fighting for us.”

For the first time this year, a select number of NC State students and fans were able to attend Sunday’s game in PNC Arena after North Carolina governor Roy Cooper signed an executive order last week relaxing attendance restrictions on sporting events.

In the Wolfpack’s 11 home games prior this season, just a handful of parents and families of the athletes and coaches were allowed to attend.

While Sunday’s crowd was not nearly as large as an ACC game would draw in PNC Arena in a normal year not impacted by a pandemic, the slight home-court advantage was felt by both the players and the coaches.

“It was great,” Keatts said. “I've walked out into that arena for four years now, and I get the weirdest feeling when I walk out there. Somebody tweeted earlier this year, 'Hold up, the media room is the locker room?’ So when I walk by and I look going to the media room, I'm like, 'Man, this is weird.' I say it every time.

“For the first time I was going to talk to my team, I looked out there and I heard the cheerleaders, I saw students. It was a good thing, so I'm happy about it. I thought it was a great lift for us. It was good to see some folks back in the seats.”

Sunday marked the first time this year that a select number of students were able to attend as fans.

The Wolfpack cheerleading squad was also present, and the marching band was heard from a video call on the jumbotron, mimicking the closest atmosphere to a normal college basketball game in Raleigh yet this season.

“It was great to have some fans in there just to get a little energy going besides the bench that we've been having lately,” Hellems said. “It's always good to have fans, and we appreciate them coming out.”

“Before the game started, I actually looked at one of our coaches when they started after the national anthem and said, 'I know there's not that many people in here compared to what I'm used to, but it felt so loud,” Beverly added. “It was just because we haven't had anybody in there.

"During the game, one of the players for Pitt looked at me because the fans were antsy, they were excited to be there, they were heckling a little bit. He was like, 'That's what they're doing today?'

"I said, 'They've been itching to get in a game all year, they're excited to be here, so of course they're going to go all out' That's what kind of impact they made on the game."

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