Tar Heels keep winning. Three takeaways from UNC basketball’s ACC victory over Cal

North Carolina shut down one of the ACC’s top scorers, Andrej Stojakovic, and handily beat Cal, 79-53, in the first matchup between the two schools since 1998.

Ian Jackson and Elliot Cadeau led the way with 20 and 15 points, respectively. Ven-Allen Lubin was the top rebounder with eight.

After amassing a 10-point lead at halftime, the Tar Heels never let the Bears, in their first season in the ACC, come within six points.

North Carolina heated up midway through the second half. Everyone was hitting — two Lubin layups here, a Jae’Lyn Withers three-pointer there — and the Tar Heels’ lead ballooned.

At a media timeout with five minutes to play, vast swarms of fans rose up and scrambled for the exits, ambling out in an attempt to beat the traffic. It was that kind of night.

“I thought it was great,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “This is the first time in a long time where we’ve played defense the entire game.”

This dominant showing extends the Tar Heels’ win streak to four straight games following their New Year’s Day loss at Louisville. UNC (12-6, 5-1 ACC) has a chance to complete its sweep of the conference newcomers when the team hosts Stanford on Saturday afternoon. North Carolina previously defeated SMU, 82-67, on Jan. 7.

Here are three takeaways:

UNC stifles Stojakovic

One of the top offensive threats in the conference, Stojakovic entered Wednesday averaging 20.3 points per game. That’s good for 12th nationally, second in the ACC and first in conference play.

By halftime, he’d mustered just two points on 1-of-8 shooting.

Seth Trimble, Jackson, Powell and Withers split up the assignment, all giving the sophomore guard fits.

The most notable moment, certainly, came as the clock ticked down at the end of the half. With Trimble hounding him, Stojakovic fired up a heave from halfcourt. Ten seconds remained on the shot clock. Out of breath — and clearly out of his rhythm — the Cal guard went over to the bench to consult his coach. A teammate offered him a reassuring pat on the back.

There, there.

But it wasn’t just Trimble who shut down Stojakovic, it was a team defensive effort as the Tar Heels continued to hound the sophomore. At times, he was double teamed and had to kick out to a much lower percentage three.

And by the end of the game, Stojakovic finished with a season-low six points.

Trimble said it’s a result of the team gelling as a defensive unit — particularly over the last few weeks.

“We talk a lot, talk extra on defense, emphasize our principles that Coach Sully [assistant coach Pat Sullivan] and the rest of the team preach on us,” he said. “A defensive team is best when they’re talking, when they’re gelled, when they’re playing together – I think that’s been us the past few games.”

Cadeau leads the way early

Cadeau led the way for the Tar Heels in the first half, scoring 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and adding three rebounds and two assists.

While reigning ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis had yet to find his touch, Cadeau remained aggressive. He sought his shot off the dribble, in openings created by high ball screens and by driving to the bucket.

He also helped push the pace, helping UNC find three buckets in transition.

Early in the game, Cadeau grabbed a defensive rebound and found Jackson for a fast break layup to put the Tar Heels up by eight. He followed that up with a jumper. Then, about three minutes later, he assisted on a thunderous fast break dunk by Withers to put North Carolina up by 10.

Cadeau didn’t score again until less than nine minutes remaining in the contest, driving in for a left-handed finish. In total, he recorded just four points in the second half.

But his intensity in the first half — both in attacking and facilitating — allowed North Carolina to dictate the tempo of the game and get out to a decent start on Wednesday.

This is the first time the sophomore guard has scored more than 12 points since the Tar Heels played Michigan State in the Maui Invitational.

“To come see him out here, be aggressive, make shots, make the defense pay for guarding him a certain way — it was great,” Jackson said. “I’m proud of him.”

The next thing Jackson wants to see? A poster from Cadeau.

“He don’t have it — nah I’m playing,” Jackson joked with a coy smile before offering his true opinion. “Elliot [is] a high flier, whether he shows it or not.”

Trimble appears acclimated

After sustaining a head injury on Dec. 28 — in practice the day before North Carolina toppled Campbell at home — Trimble missed three contests. That’s roughly two and a half weeks off for a player who, before his absence, was the team’s second-leading scorer.

He returned to action against SMU and then competed against N.C. State, combining for four points across the two games.

Jalen Washington, one of Trimble’s closest friends on the team, said the junior has been hard on himself.

“He’s been wanting to have a bigger impact on both ends of the floor, so he did that,” Washington said. “He had a stretch there where he was locking up Stojakovic for like, 20 seconds. He took a lot of time off the clock. So he’s just been giving a tremendous effort and it was huge for us tonight.”

But on Wednesday, he seemed back to his old self.

Trimble scored 12 points, racked up six defensive boards, shut down Stojakovic and recorded three steals.

As coach Hubert Davis said on a Monday ACC coaches teleconference, “the only way you can find a rhythm in basketball is actually playing.” For Trimble, it took a few games, but it appears he’s found his groove.

“Seth was off the charts,” Hubert Davis said. “His energy, effort, attention to detail — he was all over the place. He was getting rebounds, deflections, steals, running in transition, scoring at the basket [and] passing. Just his overall activity on both ends of the floor made winning plays everywhere… I just felt like that was the huge key for us to extend the lead in the second half.”

This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 9:31 PM.