On Saturday, Duke coach Jon Scheyer could only watch as his team, which led or was tied for all but 0.4 seconds, lost to UNC. What appeared to be a buzzer-beating three ended the contest, and UNC fans rushed onto the court to celebrate.
After review, the referees determined that there needed to be 0.4 seconds left. They cleared the court and cleaned it before one fruitless inbound play. The fans ran onto the court again after that. Scheyer, in his postgame press conference, claimed that he had staffers get punched by fans.
This prompted an apology from North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham. The team was also fined for the incident. However, after some time has passed, Scheyer’s story has changed ever so slightly.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer may have walked back his punch allegations
This is not the first time a Duke loss has led to a court storming, and that coach Jon Scheyer has expressed his displeasure with the act. Two years ago, Kyle Filipowski allegedly suffered an injury in the aftermath of a loss to Wake Forest.
This time, he said after the game via ESPN, “I was most concerned just for the safety of our players after the game. I don’t want to make it about that, because Carolina, they played a great game to win. And that’s a heartbreaking loss for our team. I got staff members that got punched in the face. My family, pushing people away, trying to not get trampled. That’s not what this game is about.”
That prompted the public apology. It shifted the focus away from one of the most stunning outcomes in college basketball this year. Duke led for all but roughly a minute and a half. At that point, UNC tied the game for the first time, and then with the final shot, they took their only lead.
Now, though, Scheyer has seemingly walked back or at least clarified his claims. “After the game, what happened was I came back in the locker room and I see he’s got a bloody lip and he’s disheveled, and he didn’t know what happened. He got trampled on the floor,” Scheyer said. “That was my main concern after the game.”
Now, the staffer is “doing better” and is “ready to move on,” which may also be true for Scheyer himself. The story went from multiple staffers being punched to one coach sustaining a mysterious injury during the incident.
UNC fined
The ACC, along with other conferences, has instituted a penalty to try to dissuade students from rushing the court or field like that. It doesn’t usually work, especially after such massive, incomprehensible wins like this.
“We accept the ACC’s fine for having unauthorized people on the court before Duke and the officials could completely clear the floor on Saturday,” UNC said in a statement. “The video we have reviewed confirms we followed our protocols to get Duke’s players and bench personnel and the game officials off the floor safely.
They added, “We will continue to review our protocols to provide the highest measures of safety in the event fans rush the court. We consider this matter closed and look forward to the rest of the season.” UNC coach Hubert Davis also said he spoke privately with Scheyer after the incident, though he refused to provide details.
These two teams will see each other once more in Durham later this year. They may also match up in the ACC tournament. And while it’s only happened once, it’s always theoretically possible that they’ll meet again in the NCAA Tournament, provided both teams make it. This story may be far from over.
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