Shakeel Moore is a hard-nosed guard who made his reputation as a bulldog defender on the AAU circuit.
No matter what he does for the rest of his NC State career, the new Greyborough player will be remembered for a breakout performance in Tuesday’s win over No. 17 and North Carolina’s No. 17-79.
U.N.C. (-3–3, 0-1 A.C.C.) had two chances to tie the game in the final 10 seconds, but Ryan Davis and Caleb Love had 3 points.
Moore, who averaged 2.2 points in his first five college league games, scored 17 points to help break the 7-home loss to Wolfpack (-1-1, 1-0) in a loss to the Wild Hills.
“It was big, because it’s the first ACC game,” Moore said. “It simply came to our notice then. It was great for me to fill the steps, minutes and show. ”
It was Moore’s sinking at 10:28 a.m. in the second part, that Wolfpack fans would “like” and “retweet” on social media and on their own memory scroll.
“Shaak is a monster and he’s still getting his feet wet,” senior guard Devon Daniels said in a post-game game. “The biggest thing with our new people is that they have nothing to fear.”
Moore, who is 6-1, made the baseline around UNC forward Garrison Brooks and then went D-1 over UNC freshman Walker Kessler.
Moore, who hit his first three 3-pointers, said Jumper Brooks had early success for his move.
“I just forged and ripped a simple pump and I can get it and show my athleticism there,” Moore said.
Daniels added 21 points for Wolfpack, who took a 17-point lead in the first half, while Moore scored 13 runs before the break. Forward Manny Bates added 14 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.
Before Daniels sat down at the Zoom press conference after the game, he said: “We finally got those boys!”
NC State’s last win over Tar Heels was in 2013.
“I’m so happy,” Daniel said. “Only during the game. I was able to feel the development with our team. It was a win for the whole team.”
NC State scored just 11 of 20 from the free-throw line, so the door would be late for Tar Heels, led by softmore forward Armando Buckot (16 points).
UNC’s young guards have had trouble handling the ball this season and Tar Heels is off to a slow start. Both storylines continued for UNC, who bounced the ball seven times in the first 12 minutes, giving the W-19 LFPack a 32-19 lead.
NC State was boosted by a 36.7 percent (6 out of 9) performance from the 3-point line.
Beckett helped cut the wait quickly into state margins before the end of the half. It was 49-42 by the break and the wait was behind 53-51 and 57-55 and 59-57.
But after dominating the NC State winning pair last season, senior forward Garrison Brooks struggled from the floor (5 of 14) and scored just 10 points.
State-5 was up – 5 Mo when Moore exploded for a dunk that could be a sold-out PNC arena. Instead, it was his screams that echoed through the empty building.
After a lapup by defender Thomas Allen at 5:13 p.m., NC State 13, 77-64, took the lead. And then the U.N.C. Hills made it 77-73 with 1:03 left before Daniels added a free throw.
Braxton Beverly and Daniels then missed four straight free throws in the final minute, but the UNC could not take advantage.
“We bent a little bit but we never broke down,” said NC State coach Kevin Coates.
Notes: Freshman guard Cam Hayes missed the previous two games due to the COVID-19 protocol. He added seven points in 11 minutes. … Senior forward DJ Funderburk missed his third straight game due to COVID protocols. … NC State’s improvement was 2-2 to Roy Williams while Cates has a 4-record against Williams in his fourth year.
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