CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Duke coach Jon Scheyer said members of his staff “got punched in the face” as North Carolina fans rushed the court to celebrate a last-second winning shot in the rivalry Saturday night, and UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham issued a public apology.
The 14th-ranked Tar Heels stunned No. 4 Duke 71-68 on Seth Trimble’s 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds showing, a shot that initially appeared to beat the buzzer and prompted a chaotic court storm. Officials reviewed the play and determined time remained, so fans were forced to clear the court for one final possession before the crowd stormed again when the clock truly hit zero.
“For me it’s hard to talk about the game when I was most concerned just for the safety of our players after the game,” Scheyer said. “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.”
Cunningham said he apologized to Scheyer before the postgame news conference and referenced someone being injured but did not have specifics. In a text to The Associated Press and other outlets, program spokesman Kyle Serba said one person tied to the program had been injured but gave no further details, citing privacy.
“When they rushed the court, a number of people got knocked over,” Cunningham said. “But then we had to clear the court again. So when we normally have something like just rushing the court and the game is over, we do have a line by the benches to get people off safely. Obviously, if somebody got injured, that’s just really, really disappointing. We’ll do the best we can to make sure that doesn’t happen, but again, my apologies to Duke for that.” He added the school would review video to determine exactly what happened.
Player and staff safety during court stormings has been a recurring concern in college basketball. About two years ago, after Duke’s loss at Wake Forest, Blue Devils player Kyle Filipowski was shaken up when a Demon Deacons fan collided with him and teammate Jared McCain’s path to the tunnel was briefly obstructed; Filipowski had his right leg wrapped in plastic to secure an ice bag. In the wake of that incident, Scheyer asked, “When are we going to ban court storming?”
Asked Saturday whether he still favors banning court storming, Scheyer said he does not. “I think court storming is fine, I don’t have any issue with court storming. Just shouldn’t have people getting punched in the face. Shouldn’t put our players in position where they’re face-to-face with people who can do anything at that time. It just takes one reaction. Even today, I had to push people away just to try to protect our players. They won, they should celebrate, they want to court storm, court storm. But just let’s get our guys off safely, that’s it. That’s where I’m at with that.”
