GREENSBORO, N.C. — Devon Daniels and his North Carolina State teammates know their chances of securing an NCAA Tournament bid could come down to how they play in this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

“We know we can’t go where we want to go, like unless we take care of the game at hand,” Daniels said.

The Wolfpack did that Wednesday, with Daniels scoring 23 points to help N.C. State beat Pittsburgh 73-58 in Wednesday’s second round of the ACC Tournament.

C.J. Bryce added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Wolfpack (20-12), who finally broke free of the Panthers with a run of five straight scoring possessions starting near the 9-minute mark. N.C. State went on to lead by 20 late in the kind of game that could have damaged its NCAA resume.

N.C. State won a game in last year’s ACC Tournament only to fall on the wrong side of the bubble by Selection Sunday with a resume lacking a marquee win along with the country’s worst nonconference strength of schedule.