Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 79-76 home win over No. 17 North Carolina on Tuesday evening at PNC Arena..

Everyone is probably going straight to the big dunk by freshman guard Shakeel Moore (see highlight of the game), but we believe it was a play shortly after that was more consequential.

With 8:38 left in the game, UNC senior guard Andrew Platek was able to drive the baseline for a layup, and he was fouled by Moore. Platek converted the three-point play to cut NC State's lead to 63-62, the closest it has been since it was a 15-15 tie.

Just 17 seconds later, fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels responded. The veteran was bumped by Platek while shooting a jumper that Daniel proceeded to make. Daniels answered Platek's three-point play with a three-point play of his own, and that started what would be a crucial 14-2 Wolfpack run that proved to be the difference in the game.

Daniels led the 14-2 spurt in the second half by scoring the first eight points of the run, and he finished with a game-high 21 points by making 8 of 13 shots from the field, including 2 of 3 three-pointers.

Daniels also had five rebounds, three assists and a steal despite being limited to 28 minutes due to a pair of first half fouls.

It is the second time this season and the ninth in his career that Daniels went over 20 points in a game.

Back in the rotation was freshman guard Cam Hayes, who had missed the prior two contests due to COVID-19 related issues. Hayes made his impact quickly felt by hitting a basket on his first possession in the game. Overall, Hayes made all three of his shot attempts, including a three-pointer, for seven points in 11 minutes of action.

Still not returning was fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk. He missed his third straight contest, but the good news was that Funderburk was spotted on the bench, meaning he no longer is quarantining.

Similarly there but unavailable were freshman center Ebenezer Dowuona and walk-ons Chase Graham and Max Farthing. NC State has until Dec. 30 before it is scheduled to play again, when it hosts Boston College.

One noteworthy stat from this game: NC State led for 37:48 and it never trailed after it took a 4-2 advantage. UNC tied the game once at 15-15, but that was when Moore made the first of his three first-half three-pointers.

Moore's personal 8-0 run put the Wolfpack up 23-15, and at one point the Wolfpack had a 17-point edge in the first half. However, it was never able to put away the Heels.

Credit though to the Wolfpack for being resilient. On five occasions in the second half, UNC cut the lead to two points before Platek got UNC the closest it would be at one point. With 10 seconds left, UNC for the seventh and final time in the second half sliced the lead to two points or less at 78-76.

Each time, the Wolfpack responded, and not once did the Heels tie it up or take a lead.

NC State can look back at Tuesday's game and actually see plenty of opportunities where it left points on the floor.

The Wolfpack was just 9 of 24 on shooting layups, for instance. It also made only 11 of 20 free throws, with normally reliable senior guard Braxton Beverly missing four straight in the second half. After celebrating the win with his teammates, Beverly was quickly back on the floor shooting free throws following the game.

This was actually the rare contest where NC State attempted more free throws than UNC, who went 12 of 17 at the line. In the last four meetings between the two teams prior to Tuesday, North Carolina had made 31 more free throws than NC State has attempted. The Heels (119) had nearly doubled the among of attempts at the line than the Wolfpack (61) in those contests.

Second-leading scorer Jericole Hellems, a junior forward averaging 13.4 points per contest while shooting 51.0 percent from the field and 46.2 percent on three-pointers, had a miserable shooting night. He missed all eight of his shot attempts, including three three-point tries, and had just one point.

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

First half

20:00-15:33: NC State 11, UNC 8

15:33-11:57: NC State 14, UNC 9

11:57-7:45: NC State 9, UNC 6

7:45-3:56: NC State 10, UNC 6

3:56-Halftime: UNC 13, NC State 5

Second half

20:00-15:24: UNC 6, NC State 4

15:24-11:34: UNC 9, NC State 6

11:34-6:28: NC State 12, UNC 7

6:28-3:58: NC State 6, UNC 5

3:58-Final: UNC 7, NC State 2

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

• Redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates +11 (36 minutes played)

• Freshman guard Cam Hayes +6 (11)

• Moore +5 (15)

• Daniels +4 (28)

• Hellems 0 (34)

• Redshirt freshman wing Dereon Seabron-1 (12)

• Freshman forward Jaylon Gibson -1 (10)

• Redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen -2 (25)

• Beverly -3 (29)

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

Daniels — 15.9

Bates — 14.7

Moore — 12.8

Beverly — 6.9

Hayes — 5.1

Seabron — 3.8

Allen — 2.4

Gibson — -1.1

Hellems — -6.0

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts is now 8-16 against ranked opponents at NC State. It is the second time he has defeated a rated UNC squad.

This game was televised on ACC Network. Throughout the year we will keep track of the Pack's record on the different channels.

- ACC Network: 3-0

• ESPNU: 1-0

- RSN: 1-1

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

- November: 2-0

• December: 3-1

• UNC won the battle in the paint, 52-36.

• The Heels had a large edge in fast break points, 19-2.

• The Pack’s bench beat UNC’s reserves, 29-22.

• NC State won the turnover margin, 18-14, and NC State had the advantage in points off turnovers, 19-14.

• UNC, expectedly, won on the boards, 45-34 in overall rebounds, including an 18-12 edge on the offensive glass. The Heels though had a minimal 17-15 advantage in second chance points.

• Defensively, NC State had six blocks and eight steals. UNC had seven blocks and added eight steals.

• NC State’s largest lead was 17 points and it led for 37:48. UNC''s largest advantage was just two points and it led for all of 24 seconds.

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