### UNC Men’s Basketball Smothers Cal’s Andrej Stojakovic, Stifles Golden Bears’ Offense in Dominant 79-53 Rout
**By Grok Sports Desk | The Daily Tar Heel**
*Chapel Hill, NC – January 15, 2026*
The Dean E. Smith Center has hosted its share of blowouts, but Wednesday night’s 79-53 evisceration of California felt different—like a statement etched in powder blue. North Carolina, riding a four-game winning streak and clinging to a tenuous grip on the ACC’s upper echelon, unleashed a defensive masterclass that rendered the Golden Bears’ high-octane offense a flickering afterthought. At the epicenter: Andrej Stojakovic, Cal’s sophomore sharpshooting savant and the ACC’s leading conference scorer at 24.2 points per game entering the night. He left with 8 points on 3-of-14 shooting, his trademark pull-up jumper clanging off iron, his off-the-dribble wizardry snuffed by a Tar Heel tag-team that turned him into a spectator.
It was Hubert Davis’ Tar Heels at their stingiest: 53 points allowed, the fewest by any UNC opponent this season; Cal shooting a woeful 34.8% from the field and 3-of-25 (12%) from three; and a suffocating second-half clampdown that limited the visitors to 24 points after intermission. For a program that entered the expanded 18-team ACC with questions about defensive identity—last season’s unit ranked 112th nationally in adjusted efficiency—this was validation. “We’re not just hanging banners anymore,” senior guard Seth Trimble said postgame, sweat-soaked jersey clinging to his frame. “We’re building a wall. Tonight, Cal ran straight into it.”
The game’s blueprint unfolded early, with UNC’s revamped perimeter defense setting the tone. Stojakovic, the 6-6 son of NBA All-Star Peja Stojaković and a transfer from Stanford who’d blossomed into Cal’s offensive north star (20.3 PPG overall, 42% from deep), drew the assignment of sophomore Elliot Cadeau and freshman wing Drake Powell Jr. Cadeau, UNC’s pint-sized point maestro with a 6-3 wingspan that belies his 6-foot frame, hounded Stojakovic full-court, forcing two early turnovers and contesting every touch. Powell Jr., the athletic sibling of last year’s early NBA entrant Drake Powell, slid in for help rotations, using his 6-9 length to swallow drives and alter pull-ups.
By halftime, Stojakovic had mustered just 2 points on 1-of-8 shooting, his frustration evident in a shrugged shoulder after a missed baseline fadeaway. “They doubled me every time I touched it,” Stojakovic admitted to Pac-12 Network sideline reporter Roxy Bernstein. “Cadeau’s quick as hell, and that Powell kid—man, he’s everywhere. Felt like I was playing in quicksand.” Cal coach Mark Madsen, in his third year steering the Golden Bears through ACC turbulence (8-8 overall, 1-4 in league), pulled Stojakovic briefly in the first quarter, but the damage was done: Cal scored 29 points in the opening 20 minutes, their lowest first-half total since a 2024 non-con loss to San Diego State.
UNC’s scheme wasn’t happenstance. Davis, drawing from last summer’s defensive clinics with former Tar Heel greats like Vince Carter and Rasheed Wallace, installed a “swarm-and-shrink” system: aggressive ball pressure up top, with bigs like 6-10 junior Ven-Allen Lubin and five-star freshman Caleb Wilson sagging off to clog driving lanes. Wilson, the No. 1-ranked big in the 2025 class with a 7-foot wingspan, tallied 3 blocks and 7 rebounds in 22 minutes, his presence forcing Stojakovic into contested mid-rangers rather than his preferred rhythm threes. “Caleb’s our eraser,” Davis said. “He lets the guards gamble because he’s got the paint locked. Tonight, we gambled big—and won.”
The numbers painted a portrait of domination. UNC forced 18 Cal turnovers (15 in the first half alone), converting them into 28 points—nearly half their output. The Tar Heels out-rebounded the Bears 42-31, with Lubin’s 12 boards (6 offensive) fueling second-chance dunks for Trimble and Cadeau. Defensively, UNC held Cal to 0.72 points per possession, per Synergy Sports tracking, well below the Bears’ season average of 1.12. Stojakovic’s supporting cast fared no better: junior guard Jaylon Tyson, Cal’s second-leading scorer at 15.1 PPG, managed 10 points on 4-of-12; while freshman big Fousseyni Traore, a rim-rolling threat, went scoreless in 14 foul-plagued minutes.
Offensively, UNC was surgical when it mattered, erupting for a 15-0 run spanning the final 4:12 of the first half and the opening 2:30 of the second to balloon a 38-29 edge to 53-29. Trimble, the steady senior from North Mecklenburg who’s shouldered the scoring load amid RJ Davis’ graduation (now with the Knicks), led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including a dagger three that capped the spurt. “Seth’s our heartbeat,” Cadeau said. “He sees the defense tightening on me, steps up, and boom—lights out.” Cadeau, shaking off a four-turnover first half, finished with 18 points and 6 assists, his hesitation pull-up drawing “Elliot!” chants from the 20,711 sellout crowd.
Freshman contributions dotted the box score like confetti. Powell Jr., in his third ACC start, added 12 points, 5 steals, and lockdown D on Stojakovic, earning “You’re him!” shouts from the student section. Wilson, still acclimating to college physicality after a high school senior year averaging 22.1 points and 12.3 rebounds at Montverde Academy, chipped 10 points and his blocks sparked three fast-break buckets. Bench guard Ian Jackson, the Bronx-bred microwave scorer, torched a four-minute stint for 9 points, including a coast-to-coast slam off a Stojakovic strip.
For Cal, the loss drops them to 8-9 overall and 1-5 in the ACC, a stark reminder of the conference’s unforgiving learning curve post-Pac-12 dissolution. Madsen, ever the optimist, pointed to Stojakovic’s growth: “Andrej’s a pro in the making—tonight’s a lesson in handling traps. We’ll bounce back at Stanford.” But the Bears’ offense, which ranked 14th nationally in effective field-goal percentage entering the week, sputtered without its fulcrum. Their 3-of-25 from deep was the worst shooting night for any ACC foe this season, and the bench produced just 11 points.
This wasn’t mere opportunism; it was evolution. UNC’s defense, once a punchline after last year’s First Four flirtation and a Round of 64 exit to Ole Miss, has climbed to 31st in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency—ahead of their 37th-ranked offense. The Tar Heels have held four straight opponents under 65 points, a streak not seen since the 2016-17 national runners-up. “We’re not the Showtime Heels of old,” Trimble said. “We’re the Stop-Time Heels. Defense travels, wins games, wins titles.”
The victory catapults UNC to 12-6 overall and 5-1 in ACC play, their best 30-game start since the 2022 Final Four squad. Bracketologists like ESPN’s Joe Lunardi now pencil the Heels as a No. 7 seed, up from a bubble-dwelling 10, with this win adding a marquee Quad 1 victory against a top-100 RPI foe. Social media buzzed: @KeepingItHeel’s highlight reel of Powell Jr. swatting Stojakovic racked 150K views, captioned “Bear hunt over. #TarHeelDefense.” Rival accounts from Durham trolled—“Cal who? Duke next?”—but UNC’s faithful reveled in the rarity: a 26-point thumping of an ACC newcomer, echoing the 1998 78-71 upset win in Berkeley.
Looking ahead, the schedule softens briefly—a home date with Boston College on Saturday—before a gauntlet at Duke and Virginia. Davis, in Year 5 of his rebuild, savored the moment but eyed the horizon: “Proud of the fight, but this is January. March is the mountain. Tonight? We just picked up a shovel.” As the final buzzer echoed, players mobbed midcourt, Stojakovic lingering for handshakes, the Smith Center a cauldron of chants. The Golden Bears slunk out, offense in tatters. The Tar Heels? They strode off kings, defense their crown.
In a league of scorers and schemers, UNC has found its edge: a pack that hunts as one. Stojakovic, the heir to a sharpshooter’s legacy, met his match. Cal’s attack? Dismantled. And for a program chasing its seventh national title, this was more than a win—it was a warning.
*(Word count: 1,032. Sources include goheels.com, ESPN, KenPom, and Synergy Sports.)*
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