Going into Saturday’s game in Chapel Hill, Stanford was 0-13 all-time against the North Carolina Tar Heels. But they changed that in the final seconds.
And it was late-game struggles that doomed the Tar Heeks, once again.
After Seth Trimble made two free throws to put UNC ahead 71-70 with seven seconds left, Jaylen Blakes took the inbound pass and went down the left side of the court, hitting a fade away to give Stanford the 72-71 win, stunning the Dean Dome crowd.
North Carolina scored just one field goal in the final 4:23 and just three in the final eight minutes. After they grabbed that five-point lead, the offense went stagnant.
In that same stretch, they game up a three to Maxime Raynaud, a layup from Ryan Agarwal, among free throws. And then it was the former Duke Blue Devil Blakes that delivered the dagger.
The most glaring discrepancy for North Carolina was the lack of production from Ian Jackson. The freshman guard, who is averaging 15.7 points per game this season, has scored 20+ in six of the last seven games. On Saturday, Jackson finished with six points shooting 1-for-8 from the field and 0-5 from beyond the arc.
North Carolina went up 66-61 on 2 RJ Davis free throws with 4:23 left.
They scored one field goal the rest of the way, lost 72-71.
— Tar Heels Wire (@tarheelswire) January 18, 2025
RJ Davis finished with 19 points and five assists, shooting 6-for-15 from the field. Ven Allen Lubin had one of his best games of the season as well, with 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. Elliot Cadeau had 12 points with six rebounds and five assists as the only other Tar Heel in double figures.
North Carolina will now head on the road to Wake Forest on Tuesday night. The Demon Deacons are 6-1 against conference teams and 9-0 on their home court. The game can be seen at 9:00 p.m. on ESPN.
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