UNC basketball falls in final seconds to Jaylen Blakes, Stanford at Smith Center

Posted by author January 18, 2025 Basketball

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CHAPEL HILL — Former Duke basketball guard Jaylen Blakes hit the game-winning bucket in the final seconds Saturday to snap a four-game winning streak for UNC basketball, which lost 72-71 to Stanford.

The Tar Heels (12-7, 5-2 ACC) had a 71-70 lead with 7.7 seconds left before Blakes sprinted down the court and hit a jumper just in front of the Cardinal bench with 1.5 seconds left to give Stanford (12-6, 3-4) its first win against UNC. The Tar Heels won the first 13 meetings in the series.

UNC had a five-point lead with 4:23 left but couldn’t hold on as Blakes and the Cardinal made the winning plays down the stretch, scoring 11 of the final 16 points. Blakes finished with 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds. UNC also had a hard time containing 7-footer Maxime Raynaud, who finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.

RJ Davis had 19 points, Ven-Allen Lubin had 13 and Elliot Cadeau finished with 12 for the Tar Heels, who play at Wake Forest on Tuesday. Here are observations from UNC’s loss to Stanford.

RJ Davis leads UNC basketball in scoring vs Stanford

Following a seven-point game against Cal, RJ Davis came out firing as the catalyst for UNC’s offense with nine points and five assists in the first half. The Tar Heels had eight assists on 13 buckets and took a 36-35 halftime lead but UNC shot 40% in the second half and Davis finished 6 of 15 from the floor.

Maxime Raynaud, Jaylen Blakes keep Cardinal close

Stanford 7-footer Maxime Raynaud lived up to the hype as the ACC’s leading scorer and rebounder. In his first game against UNC, Raynaud dropped 15 points with six rebounds in the first half. Former Duke guard Jaylen Blakes, who didn’t play in five of the seven games against the Tar Heels during his time with the Blue Devils, had 10 points in the first half. Blakes and Raynaud accounted for 45 of Stanford’s 72 points.

Ven-Allen Lubin gives UNC bench edge against Stanford

Ven-Allen Lubin finished with a season-high 13 points to go with five rebounds as UNC finished with a 23-1 advantage in bench points. Lubin got things going with eight points and four rebounds in the first half. It was one of the positives to pull from UNC’s game against Stanford.

Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to rbaxley@fayobserver.com.