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Same story, same result: UNC’s defense burns Tar Heels at Stanford
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- Same story, same result: UNC’s defense burns Tar Heels at Stanford
On a night that felt like Groundhog Day for North Carolina's defense , the Tar Heels watched a familiar nightmare repeat in a 95-91 upset loss at Stanford — wide-open 3s, late rotations and no answers on the perimeter.
Stanford shot 57.1% from the field (32-for-56) and 57.1% from 3-point range (16-for-28), exposing a Tar Heels defense that has struggled for weeks. It was the latest example of North Carolina 's issues guarding the arc and getting stops in big moments.
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Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson did their part, scoring 26 points apiece, but their production wasn't enough to overcome UNC's defensive breakdowns. The Tar Heels led by as many as 12 in each half before Stanford stormed back late. Jeremy Dent-Smith buried a 3-pointer to give the Cardinal a one-point lead with 1:01 to play, and on the next possession Wilson was stripped, leading to another Stanford 3 by Ryan Agarwal that pushed the margin to four with 32.7 seconds left.
While Wilson has gained plenty of attention as one of the elite freshmen in the country and a projected top-five draft pick, freshman point guard Ebuka Okorie stole the show. He scored 36 points and handed out nine assists, and North Carolina could not stop him no matter who it put on him, including defensive specialist Seth Trimble .
"Obviously, he's a really gifted player, and it's much different from a guard who has the ball in his hands," UNC head coach Hubert Davis said after the game. "And something else that should be talked about with him is he's an elite and a willing passer as well. So it's not just that he can get fouled and get to the free-throw line. Put a number of different defenders, our best one-on-one defenders, we did things differently defensively where we didn't do any switching off the ball, to keep matchups, to keep our best defenders on him. And again, he had a big night, but there were others who stepped up and did the job."
Agarwal (20), Dent-Smith (20) and Okorie (36) all scored at least 20 points. The trio combined for 76 of Stanford's 95 points and went 14-for-21 (66.7%) from beyond the arc.
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The collapse fit a troubling pattern. Over their last two road games, the Tar Heels have given up 192 points. In their last three outings, they have allowed opponents to knock down 44 3-pointers and shoot 50% or better in five of six halves.
It was the second time in the last three games that Carolina has surrendered at least 90 points while allowing an opponent to shoot 50% or better from the field. It also marked the third straight game in which UNC's defense yielded a 40% clip from 3-point range. Since the start of ACC play, the Tar Heels have allowed 56 3-pointers — an average of 14 per game.
"I don't think you can point to one specific thing," Davis said when asked about the consistent problem defending the perimeter. "I think it's coming from a number of different directions. I think not getting picked up in transition, short closeouts, no pressure on the ball, late rotations, kickouts from offensive rebounds. Just coming from a number of different directions."
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Tar Heels' defensive issues resurface in loss to Stanford
