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North Carolina stunned by Stanford on last-second shot from Jaylen Blakes
North Carolina’s stunning home loss in the final seconds would’ve been bad enough on Saturday, but the fact that ex-Duke player Jaylen Blakes did the deed for Stanford made the setback that much more agonizing.
Blakes, who’s in his first season with the Cardinal after 3 seasons at Duke, inbounded the ball at the other end of the court and quickly got the ball back. It was his play, and he was going to either make something happen or fail in trying. Blakes drove the ball hard down the left side of the court, pulled up for a left-wing fadeaway jumper and nailed it to set off a celebration with just 0.9 seconds left.
Blakes’ dagger gave Stanford a 72-71 lead, which turned into the final score after North Carolina was unable to make a miracle happen. Blakes, who has blossomed into a solid contributor in Palo Alto after 3 seasons of little playing time at Duke, scored 20 points in the victory and added 4 rebounds and 7 assists. Blakes is averaging career-highs of 14.5 points, 5.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds this season, finally getting the playing time he yearned for in Durham.
Blakes has started all 18 games this season for the Cardinal, who improved to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in their first season in the ACC. Meanwhile, it was another crushing loss for North Carolina, which fell to 12-7 and 5-2 in the league.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.