Mistakes plague UNC men's basketball in last-second loss to Stanford

Details. Mistakes. Little things.

Those were the words that echoed through the postgame press conferences of head coach Hubert Davis and graduate guard RJ Davis following UNC’s last-second loss to Stanford.

With North Carolina up 71-70 and 7.7 seconds left on the clock, Stanford inbounded the ball to Maxime Raynaud, who laid it off to Jaylen Blakes. Junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin and RJ Davis were running down the court, trying to keep up, as junior guard Seth Trimble attempted to stay in front of Blakes. 

Trimble stuck his arms up. But Blakes stopped running and pulled up. 72-71 Stanford. 1.5 seconds left.

“It came down to the wire of the game, but we have to go back to the drawing board and kind of just reflect on the second half,” RJ Davis said. “Like the last five minutes, because that’s where things got a little bit sloppy and our attention to detail wasn’t there."

On Saturday afternoon at the Dean E. Smith Center, North Carolina fell to Stanford, 72-71, after Blakes hit the game-winning shot. It’s the Cardinal's first ever win over the Tar Heels in program history in 14 games. It also marks UNC’s first Quad 3 loss of the season.

In a game that could damage UNC’s NCAA tournament resume, it was the errors down the stretch that plagued the Tar Heels. Stanford outscored North Carolina 11-5 in the final 4:23. UNC missed four of its last five field goal attempts.

“I always say little things lead to big things happening,” Hubert Davis said, staring down at the table in front of him. “And I felt like those little things, those little mistakes led to big things happening today [and] result [in] a loss.”

Over the past month, the Tar Heels have been in four games that ended within one possession. They won the last three: UCLA, Notre Dame and N.C. State. 

All season, Hubert Davis has emphasized that if his squad's defense and rebounding were where they should be, the Tar Heels wouldn’t be in positions where a last-second shot could cost them the game. Following UNC’s 63-61 win over the Wolfpack, he echoed the sentiment after North Carolina allowed 16 offensive rebounds.

“It’s the same communication that I had in regards to similar situations against UCLA, against N.C. State and against Notre Dame,” Hubert Davis said. “Whatever it takes, we’ve got to get a stop and we gotta finish the possession with a rebound.”

Against Stanford, it wasn’t rebounding that plagued the Tar Heels. In a matchup with 7-foot-1 Raynaud, North Carolina lost the rebounding battle by just one, 32-31. 

Instead, Hubert Davis pointed to first half shot selection. He said his team settled for too many outside jump shots rather than attacking the rim. In the first 20 minutes, North Carolina took just eight layup or dunk attempts compared to 19 jumpers. 

The conversion rate? 4-8 on layups and dunks. 8-19 on jumpers or threes.

Then, in the second half, it was the defensive intensity in the closing minutes that decided the game, according to RJ Davis. After holding Stanford without a field goal for nearly six minutes in the last 10 minutes of the game, Lubin lost Raynaud in the corner. Raynaud drained the three with just over two minutes left. 68-67, Stanford.

“It’s kind of like a delay on defense,” RJ Davis said. “Where [we’re] one second behind on the communications or we give up a strong side three.”

Trimble noticed it too. He said the effort wasn’t the same as it had been during the previous four games — all of which UNC won.

And with North Carolina up 66-61 with just 4:10 left on the clock, Blakes went to the line and hit both free throws. Then the Raynaud three. Then a miscommunication on an inbound pass that led to a layup for Ryan Agarwal.

Stanford led, 68-67. After trading free throws, the Cardinal got the ball back down one with enough time for that last-second shot.  

“We knew what was coming,” Trimble said. “We just didn’t get it done this time.”

@mdmaynard74

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