The Duke-North Carolina game on Saturday night in Chapel Hill featured a crazy finish with the Tar Heels nailing a buzzer-beating three-pointer to win 71-68. It also included Tar Heels fans storming the court twice.
That’s because many in attendance at the Dean Dome thought the game was over when North Carolina’s Seth Trimble made a three to beat the buzzer, and Tar Heels fans stormed the court in celebration. However, an official review showed that there were still 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock.
A delay of roughly five minutes followed in a chaotic scene before play resumed, and Duke was unsuccessful in trying to get a shot off, giving North Carolina a 71-68 victory. And that led to Tar Heels fans storming the court for a second time.
After the game, the focus from Duke head coach Jon Scheyer was more about what happened during the court storming than the Blue Devils’ loss.
Scheyer told the media that Duke staff members “got punched in the face.”
“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. “Like, 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,” Scheyer continued. “My family, pushing people away, trying not to get trampled. And that’s not what this game is about. And you give them all the credit in the world. It’s not about the game. But obviously that was a scary ending, and this rivalry is not about that.”
Scheyer said that he’s “all for” fans storming the court and explained, “But just let us get our guys off safely first.”
North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham apologized to Scheyer after the game and confirmed during a press conference that at least one person was injured.
Court storming has been a huge topic in the college basketball world over the last few years, and Saturday night’s developments will definitely increase the commentary on the subject.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.