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Heel Tough Blog: Stanford Recap

Writer's picture: Joshua MarlowJoshua Marlow

ESPN
ESPN

It was a disappointing afternoon for Carolina Basketball, as they saw their four-game winning streak come to an end, to the Stanford Cardinal, who beat Carolina for the first time in its program history, 72-71. Jaylen Blakes hit a shot with 1.5 seconds left to push Stanford over the top, after Seth Trimble made two free throws, to put Carolina up, 71-70, with less than 25 seconds left to play. The final sequence was the theme for Carolina in the second half, as they struggled to get consistent stops, and failed to put the game away. The Tar Heels knew they were going to have their hands full with Maxime Raynaud, and he proved to be too much for Carolina’s frontcourt, as he put together, a 25-point, 13 rebound, double-double, and was clearly the best player on the floor in today’s game. But he got help from his two other teammates who average double figures scoring, as the aforementioned Blakes added 20 points, and Oziyah Sellers chipped in 11, as the trio combined to score 56 of Stanford’s 72 points. 


The boxscore would suggest that Carolina played a good defensive game, as Stanford shot 43% from the field, and 32% from behind the arc, but they never got taken out of what they wanted to do, and never lost confidence. Also, after picking up full-court in the first half after made foul shots, or other dead ball situations, Carolina didn’t do it in the second half, until the final possession, which wasn’t effective at all. With all that in mind, it was evident that Carolina’s defensive effort wasn’t where it had been during the winning streak, and it played a factor in the loss. 


Ian Jackson had his first “bad” game since becoming a starter, and it impacted the offense as a whole. Jackson scored just 6 points, on 1-8 shooting, and was 0-5 from three. RJ Davis led Carolina with 19 points but was just 6-15 from the field and 3-7 from behind the arc. He was the best player for Carolina though, as he handed out 5 assists, and grabbed 3 rebounds, in the loss. The only other Tar Heels to score in double figures were Elliot Cadeau (12) and Ven-Allen Lubin (13), but it wasn’t enough to overcome Jackson’s off night. Just like Stanford, Carolina shot 43% from the field but was just 28% from long range, and even though they went 20-24 from the charity stripe, it couldn’t get Carolina into the win column. 


In losses to Kansas, Michigan State, and Florida, Carolina failed to close out the opponent, and that’s exactly what happened today. Carolina led by 3 with 3 minutes left to play, but they never put Stanford away, missing too many shots, and making too many mistakes defensively. Here’s everything you need to take away from the first conference loss at home this season: 


  1. Raynaud Wrecks Havoc: You don’t average the numbers Maxime Raynaud averages on accident, and he proved to be worth every bit of the hype today, dominating Carolina to the tune of 25 points, and 13 rebounds. Ven-Allen Lubin held his own against Raynaud, much better than Jalen Washington but his impact was too much. Today was another example of how Carolina’s poorly constructed roster has hindered this group from being the preseason top 10 team they were voted to be. Raynaud was only 8-24 from the field and 3-12 from behind the arc, but he was still the best player on the court. Carolina’s worst nightmare come to life again, as this roster isn’t capable of holding its own against a team that features a legitimate big man. 

  2. Poor Perimeter Shooting: In the win streak, Carolina was able to win, despite not shooting the ball from the outside, but that wasn’t the case today, as they were just 5-18 from the outside. RJ was 3-7 but didn’t get the help he’s used to getting from Ian Jackson, who was 0-5. Stanford played a zone defense, that Carolina was able to generate quality looks against, but they were never able to shoot them out of it. 

  3. Turnovers: Carolina actually took very good care of the basketball, as they turned it over 5 times, the fewest amount of turnovers in a loss since losing to Duke in 2017 in Durham. The issue was that those 5 turnovers led to 11 points for the Cardinal. On the flip side, Carolina forced 8 turnovers but only scored 11 points off them. 

  4. Closing Time: Simply put, Kyle Smith outcoached Hubert Davis down the stretch, and there’s never a scenario where the head coach at Stanford should outcoach the head coach at UNC. Smith had a better feel for the game, knowing when to call timeouts, and changing up his defenses, keeping Carolina out of rhythm. Furthermore, on multiple baseline out-of-bounds situations, Smith was able to call plays to get Blakes or Sellers open for easy jump shots. You can blame the players for not executing, but it was obvious who the better coach was down the stretch, and that’s been the case in close losses to Kansas, Michigan State, Florida, and now Stanford. Today was the first time Carolina lost at home when leading at the half, since losing to Duke in 2020. 

Up Next: Carolina is on the road on Tuesday night, when they travel to Wake Forest, to take on the Demon Deacons. That game is set to tip at 9 PM on ESPN. 


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