On Saturday, Stanford men’s basketball defeated North Carolina 72-71 on the road at the Dean Dome. Stanford guard Jaylen Blakes hit the game-winning shot with just 1.5 seconds left on the clock, finishing with 20 points, four rebounds, and seven assists while center Maxime Raynaud had a double-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks. North Carolina guard R.J. Davis was the top performer for the Tarheels with 19 points and five assists. Stanford improves to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in the ACC while North Carolina falls to 12-7 overall and 5-2 in the ACC.

VIDEO: Jaylen Blakes hits game-winner to beat UNC

BOX SCORE: Stanford at North Carolina-Saturday, January 18th

Stanford once again rolled with their starting lineup of Jaylen Blakes, Ryan Agarwal, Oziyah Sellers, Donavin Young, and Maxime Raynaud. It would be tied early at 7-7 with 15:49 to go in the first half as Young had a 3-pointer and a block inside. The freshman continued to bring great energy into his starting role after missing some time due to injury and illness at the beginning of the season.

North Carolina would lead 15-12 with 12:30 to go in the half. The Tarheels were on a 6-0 run over the last 31 seconds as R.J. Davis had a nice transition 3-pointer. Raynaud was up to six points and five rebounds for the Cardinal, finding a nice groove inside.

With 7:21 to go in the half, North Carolina led 24-19. The Tarheels were shooting 9-18 from the field while Stanford was shooting 7-17. Stanford was hanging around, but really needed to finish the half strong.

Stanford would close the gap a bit to make it a 30-28 game with 3:15 to go in the half after Raynaud had a nice alley-oop slam in transition, utterly posterizing Cade Tyson.

At halftime, North Carolina led 36-35 as Stanford was very much in the game. Davis was leading the Tarheels with nine points and five assists while Raynaud was leading the Cardinal with 15 points and six rebounds.

North Carolina would lead 44-41 with 15:31 to go. Raynaud was up to 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinal while Blakes had 10 points. Free throws were making a difference as the Tarheels were 10-12 from the line while Stanford was 4-5.

Stanford would then have their turn at the lead, up 50-49 with 11:56 to go. Donavin Young was up to nine points for Stanford on 3-3 shooting from 3-point range to go along with a couple of blocks. Oziyah Sellers also had nine points for the Cardinal, doing his part to keep his team in the game.

With 8:35 to go, Stanford was up 57-56. Raynaud was balling out with 22 points and 13 rebounds, doing everything possible to keep the Cardinal in front. Davis was up to 15 points and five assists for the Tarheels. This one remained tight.

The seesaw state of affairs would continue as North Carolina led 66-63 with 4:10 to go after Blakes knocked home a couple more free throws for the Cardinal. It was a great fight from the Cardinal, but they were still behind, needing to find a way to pull this one out.

After a clutch corner three from Raynaud, UNC was only up by one point (67-66) with 2:22 to go. Raynaud was up to 25 points for the Cardinal, making shots when he really needed to.

Stanford would pull in front 70-69 with 21 seconds to go after a pair of clutch foul shots by Blakes only for North Carolina to go up 71-70 after Seth Trimble made a pair of free throws for the Tarheels. With 7.7 to go, Stanford had the ball and one final chance to take the lead. This time for good.

Out of a timeout, Blakes would inbound the ball to Raynaud, who gave the ball right back to him. Blakes would then dribble the ball full court down the left side line and take a shot from the left baseline, drilling the midrange jumper with only 1.5 seconds left on the clock. This gave Stanford a 72-71 lead. With so little time left, the Tarheels were unable to answer, resulting in a one point Stanford victory.

For Stanford, this is obviously a huge win. North Carolina is one of the better teams in the ACC and came in as 11.5 point favorites. Not only that, but Stanford came in 0-13 all-time against North Carolina. To have their first win against North Carolina come on the road at the Dean Dome and have the game-winning shot come courtesy of a former Duke Blue Devil is something that nobody could have seen coming. It’s literally something out of a storybook.

"I mean, it's such a big win for us," Raynaud told The CW after the game. "Obviously first win on the road in the ACC [outside of Cal], probably like the best venue I've ever been in. Coach Eric Reveno, being here back when he was a player, back when Stanford was like top ten in the country. So yeah, it means a ton for us and the way, too. The way. I mean, it was gritty, it went back and forth early, and JB made the exact same shot he made at Santa Clara. I loved it."

Given that Stanford only had one point come from off the bench, this was a game that was really won by the starters. All five of them did their part, making the shots that they needed to make and coming up big when needed. This was definitely a team effort.

Of course, Raynaud and Blakes were the biggest story. Raynaud had one of the best games of his Stanford career while Blakes hit his second game-winner of the season, the first one coming at Santa Clara. Blakes has been a fantastic addition to the Cardinal program, showing that he has what it takes to be a go-to guy after seeing limited action at Duke. You know he was pumped to hit that shot given the rivalry that is between UNC and Duke.

Up next for Stanford is a home game against Miami on Wednesday, January 22nd. Tipoff is set for 8:00 PM PT on ESPNU.

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