Stanford Upsets UNC, Ending Tar Heels Four-Game Winning Streak
Jaylen Blakes’ 15-footer jumper with a second to go secured a 72-71 victory for Stanford over North Carolina. This is the first meeting between the Tar Heels and Cardinal as Atlantic Coast Conference foes and Stanford’s first win over North Carolina in program history. Maxime Raynaud led the Cardinal in scoring with 25 points and Blakes had 20 points and seven assists. This was a special game for Blakes as the Duke transfer got his first win over the Tar Heels. RJ Davis led the Heels in scoring with 19 points and Ven-Allen Lubin contributed 13 points off the bench. These two teams put on one of the better games in the ACC this season due to it being a competitive back-and-forth game with limited turnovers and incredible shots being made.
In the first half, the biggest lead for any team was six as both teams were able to match each other's shot in the first 20 minutes. The Cardinal, who have three top 20 scorers in the ACC led by Raynaud, who leads the conference in points and double-doubles, and Blakes were able to keep the Cardinal in the game as Carolina tried to pull away. The Tar Heels continued to use their small ball lineup which got exposed a bit in this game as they were unable to win the rebound battle or control the pace of the game. However, Carolina’s stingy defense helped them take a 36-35 lead at halftime.
Ian Jackson, who had scored 20 or more points in six out of the past eight games including victories over NC State and California, struggled against Stanford. Jackson only notched six points and shot a career-worse 12 percent from the field and did not make a single three-point shot. However, Elliot Cadeau scored 12 points and had five assists and ignited an 11-4 run by Carolina to give them a three-point lead with six minutes left in the game. Stanford was held scoreless within the last four minutes to go, but Carolina could not take advantage during their scoreless drought. A three-pointer by Raynaurd and a Ryan Agarwal layup gave the Cardinal the lead with under two minutes to go. However, Seth Trimble’s layup and free throws with a minute left gave Carolina the lead back by one. A missed three by Davis could have put Carolina up by four with 44 seconds left but the Cardinal were able to take advantage of the miss.
The final seconds of the game featured one of the biggest shots in Stanford Cardinal history as Blakes took the ball up the court and got away from Trimble to make a tough jumper in front of the Cardinal bench. Carolina had one more opportunity to win the game but did not get the ball inbounds therefore ending the game. This is a huge win for Stanford as in their first season in the ACC they were able to knock off one of the legendary programs in the conference. Going forward, the Cardinal can use this game as momentum for the rest of the season. They host Miami and Florida State at home next week, while Carolina will have to regroup as their next game will be at Wake Forest on Tuesday night before hosting Boston College next Saturday.
