GAMEDAY PREVIEW — UNC at Stanford — Wednesday, January 14th 

January 14th, 2026 

PALO ALTO, CA: The 14th ranked North Carolina Tar Heels make their way across the country for a conference showdown against the unranked Stanford Cardinals. This should be a defensively sound battle with high levels of physicality. UNC looks to improve to 3-1 in conference play coming off a great win against Wake Forest, Stanford on the other hand looking to get above .500 in conference play. So look for Stanford to put up a hard fight. 

How They Got Here 

North Carolina: 

UNC is 4-1 in their last 5 games. Coming into this matchup off a 87-84 win over Wake Forest, where the Tar Heels’ showed their great defensive effort and ability to respond. The game before, Carolina suffered a loss at SMU. Over their last five games, the Tar Heels have had some strong defensive performances. The offense can be inconsistent at times, especially on the road. If they can find a way to be consistent on offense then they will be in great shape. 

Stanford: 

Stanford comes into the game 3-2 over their last five games. Stanford relies on physical play, ball movement, and interior scoring. In their 2 losses over the five game stretch, they have shot an average of 19% from 3-pt range. That has to improve. Being at home, maybe they will be able to shoot at a high clip. 

Key Points 

UNC 

● Keep it on the perimeter: Carolina, this season has an average opponent field goal percentage below 50% (47.4). If they can find ways to keep Stanford out of the paint and force them to take contested jumpshots and 3’s they should be fine, as Stanford is only shooting 33.5% from 3 as a team. 

● Ball Security: UNC has also been great at ball security only averaging 9.9 turnovers a game which is below the average, they have shown this throughout the season, if they keep the turnovers low it looks promising. 

● Drill the Long Ball: A strength UNC has is their interior scoring. If they can knock down the 3 ball at a consistent rate going through Veesaar and cause Stanford to commit to defending it, it will allow Wilson, and tremble to get downhill and create.

Stanford 

● Get the Supporting Cast Going: Vast majority of their offense comes from Ebuka Okorie, averaging 22.1 points per game. The next highest is 13.9 from Chrisom Okpara, in order to be better offensively they need more people to chip in. 

● Get Downhill, Get to the Line: With the 3 ball not being the best, a lot of their offense is getting into the paint. If they can do this at a high level, get to the line, and make free throws this game has the potential to go in their favor. 

● Defend the Big 3: UNC’s Caleb Wilson, Seth Tremble, and Henri Veesaar have proven to be a problem for teams they have faced. If Stanford can find a way to contain these guys, and make the rest of the team beat them, they’re in great shape.