When players see one thing and coaches see another, UNC’s defense suffers

North Carolina’s defense has been terrible, whether on the interior or the perimeter, since ACC play began.

It reached a new low in a 95-91 upset loss at Stanford, as the Tar Heels allowed the Cardinal to shoot 32-for-56 from the floor and 16-for-28 from beyond the arc, both at a 57.1% clip.

It was the second time in the last three games that Carolina has allowed an opponent to shoot 50% or better from the field and score 90 or more points. It was also the third straight game in which the Tar Heels allowed a 40% success rate from 3-point range.

To make the loss worse, Stanford did the same thing the entire game, according to star forward Caleb Wilson.

The Cardinal used horns sets and produced their best shooting performance of the season against a Power Five opponent (57.1% from the floor and from 3-point range), and the Tar Heels were repeatedly exposed in pick-and-roll coverage. Essentially, Stanford ran the same action all game. If it wasn’t the same play, it was a variation of it — something Wilson noticed during the game.

“They ran the same play, pretty much every time down the court,” Wilson said. “[They] brought the three and the four up, came off the right side, and basically just played isolation basketball.”

Carolina couldn’t stay in front of dynamic Stanford freshman guard Ebuka Okorie, who set a Stanford freshman record with 36 points.

“I guess, at the end of the day, it’s just about being able to guard the ball,” Wilson said. “That’s really all I can say. They stuck to exactly what was working. They were in the same place over and over again. It wasn’t like they were doing anything special.”

Is a Communication Breakdown Is Killing UNC’s Defense?

When a reporter relayed Wilson’s remarks during North Carolina coach Hubert Davis’ postgame news conference, Davis declined to respond directly, saying he couldn’t address comments he hadn’t heard in full context.

He did, however, challenge the idea that Stanford’s offense was thriving simply by running the same horns action or slight tweaks of it over and over.

“I would respectfully disagree with that,” Davis said. “It was coming from a number of different situations. They were scoring threes in transition; it was coming off of isolation. It was coming off of ball screens, late communication, closeouts, and in terms of rotations. And so whether it was running a consecutive play, they were getting different things.”

This was Hubert Davis’ response when I asked him about Stanford’s horns set.

“I would respectfully disagree with that… it was coming from a number of different situations. They were scoring threes in transition. It was coming off isolation, off of ball screens…”

Full answer: pic.twitter.com/UiPjiC64s9

— Shelby Swanson (@shelbymswanson) January 15, 2026

Regardless of whether the issues came from one set or several, the result was the same: consistent defensive lapses that went uncorrected. That ongoing disconnect raises the possibility of a communication problem between the coaching staff and the players, as North Carolina’s defensive struggles continue to surface across multiple games with little sign of improvement.

And the way things are going, it doesn’t look good when you look at the whole picture.

Since the beginning of ACC play, Carolina has allowed 56 3-pointers — 14 per game. In the last three games, opponents have averaged 92 points, and the Tar Heels’ adjusted defensive efficiency has fallen to No. 280.

This is part of a worsening pattern. Over their last two road games, the Tar Heels have given up 192 points. In their last three outings, they have allowed opponents to hit 44 3-pointers and shoot 50% or better in five of six halves.

It was the second time in the last three games that Carolina has surrendered at least 90 points while allowing an opponent to shoot 50% or better from the field. It also marked the third straight game in which UNC’s defense yielded a 40% clip from 3-point range. Since the start of ACC play, the Tar Heels have allowed 56 3-pointers — an average of 14 per game.

Things have to change, because it is only going to get tougher in the ACC. Cal awaits the Tar Heels in Berkeley, and North Carolina will be on the road again next Saturday when it travels to Charlottesville to take on Virginia. It won’t get any easier in February and March, as Carolina will face Duke and Syracuse twice, make road trips to Miami and NC State, and host Clemson, Louisville and Virginia Tech in the Smith Center. All of those teams could be NCAA tournament contenders, underscoring that the ACC is back at full strength.

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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: What Caleb Wilson saw vs. what Hubert Davis said