Despite more losses than normal, the Tar Heels could boast that they haven’t had any “bad” losses. Now they can’t. North Carolina fell on a mid-range jumper by an ex-Duke player with 1.5 seconds to go as Stanford pulled it out 72-71 in Chapel Hill. (1/18)

North Carolina, which led most of the game, held a 66-61 lead with just 4:23 to play but couldn’t hold on. Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud, who tortured the Tar Heels all afternoon with 25 points and 13 rebounds, picked up a key three pointer from the right side to keep the Cardinal close.

With a 67-66 lead and the ball, UNC’s RJ Davis didn’t handle the zone defense well and turned it over, eventually leading to the Cardinal taking the lead with less than two minutes to go.

The lead changed hands twice before UNC’s Seth Trimble drew a foul with seven seconds left and hit both free throws for a 71-70 Carolina lead. After a UNC timeout, Stanford’s Jaylen Blakes, who transferred from Duke, took the ball down the court quickly against Trimble, stopped on a dime, stepped back, got separation and hit a mid-range jumper with 1.5 seconds to go for the victory.

“We had a man on man, he took it the length of the floor, rose up, took a step back and knocked it down,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “You have to give Blakes credit for being able to make that shot in that situation, and it resulted in us losing.”

The Quad 3 loss to the Cardinal hurts Carolina’s efforts to make the NCAA Tournament. While Stanford (12-6) has a good team, the Tar Heels, having won four in a row, were favored in front of the boisterous sell-out crowd.

“It’s such a big win for us,” Stanford’s Raynaud said. “That was our first win on the road in the conference and this was the best venue I’ve ever been in. It was a gritty game, back and forth.”

While Raynaud is one of the best players in the country, Coach Davis said, it was Blakes who was the difference with his dominating physicality. Blakes finished with 20 points and seven assists.

“We just made too many mistakes to win the game today,” Coach Davis said. “There were a number of little mistakes on both ends of the floor that resulted in a big mistake.”

Freshman Ian Jackson, who has been the leading scorer most of Carolina’s recent games, picked a bad game to slump as he went just one of eight from the floor and just six points.

The loss overshadowed the best performance of the season by UNC’s Ven-Allen Lubin, who scored 13 points, picked up five rebounds and blocked three shots. Davis led Carolina with 19 points while Eliot Cadeau, who was in foul trouble in the first half, finished with 12.

The Cardinal improve to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in the ACC while Carolina, who travel to Wake Forest Tuesday, fall to 12-7 overall and 5-2 in the conference.

Box score

North Carolina held down one of the ACC’s best scorers defensively and got up and down the court offensively to defeat Cal 79-53 at home. (1/15)

The solid effort from the Tar Heels started early as they took the lead at 5-4 on a three by freshman Ian Jackson from the left side and they never trailed again.

“We put a big emphasis on defense and tonight it showed,” Jackson said. Andrej Stojakovic, who averages more than 20 points a game including 24 points a game in ACC contests, was held to just six points as he was hounded by Tar Heel defenders all night.

“We were locked in defensively on Stojakovic,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “He’s so talented and can score and gets to the free throw line but we defended him without fouling.”

In fact, Cal shot only five free throws all night as Carolina committed nine fouls before intentionally fouling to get substitutions in the game at the end.

Carolina, which led by as many as 11 in the first half, held a comfortable 39-29 advantage at the break and, after Cal closed to within six early in the second half, went on a 15-0 run to open it up.

Seth Trimble, who had his best game since coming back from a head injury, scored in transition to give Carolina a 65-41 lead with 6:55 to go. The largest lead of the game came late when Jackson scored on a fastbreak layup for a 77-50 lead.

“I was much more aggressive and assertive tongiht,” said Trimble, who scored 12 points. “It was all rhythm for me so everything was back for me.”

Jackson led Carolina with 20 points while Eliot Cadeau had 15.

Mady Sissoko was a bright spot for Cal as he led the team with 16 points, with most baskets coming after one of his eight rebounds. The Golden Bears fall to 8-9 overall and 1-5 in the ACC.

The Tar Heels, who host Stanford Saturday afternoon at 2:15 p.m., are now on a four-game win streak and improve to 12-6 overall and 5-1 in the conference.

Box score

UNC basketball hasn’t played California in 26 years. That streak ends this week as the Tar Heels (11-6, 4-1 ACC) welcome the Golden Bears (8-8, 1-4) to the Smith Center on Wednesday (7 p.m., ACC Network) for their first meeting as ACC foes. Please click here for more.

Washington defensive analyst and assistant director of recruiting Armond Hawkins is expected to coach the Tar Heels’ secondary, according to multiple reports on Tuesday. Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports first reported the news. Please click here for more.

The North Carolina Tar Heels hired Bill Belichick to be their new head coach back in December, but he hasn’t brought many coaches with him to Chapel Hill yet. With interest among NFL teams high, this has raised concerns that he could return to the pros, but general manager Michael Lombardi had a stern response to those worries. Please click here for more.