NC State Tops No. 17 North Carolina Thanks to Devon Daniels's 21 Points

Devon Daniels scored eight straight points in the second half in NC State's 79-76 victory over No. 17 North Carolina.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Devon Daniels scored eight straight points in the second half and finished with 21 to help North Carolina State beat 17th-ranked North Carolina 79-76 on Tuesday night.

Freshman Shakeel Moore scored 17 points for the Wolfpack (5-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who blew nearly all of a 17-point first-half lead in an unusually early meeting in the longtime rivalry.

But NC State responded with a 14-2 run after UNC (5-2, 0-1) got within a point, then did just enough down the stretch to hold off the Tar Heels’ late rally to win for only the fifth time in 37 meetings.

Daniels hit a free throw with 9.3 seconds left to push the margin to three, then UNC’s RJ Davis and Caleb Love missed final-possession 3-pointers.

NC State was playing its third game after a two-week pause due to coronavirus issues and the Wolfpack didn’t have top big man DJ Funderburk.

Armando Bacot scored 16 points to lead the Tar Heels, who had won seven straight games on the Wolfpack’s homecourt.