Duke fans are not happy about the final call of regulation in a recent loss to Virginia. The now admitted mistake led to a crucial Blue Devils loss as they continue to fight for NCAA Tournament seeding.
The ACC has since owned up to the missed ruling, which kept Duke from having a chance to win the game at the free throw line. That admission has college basketball fans responding online.
With the game tied at 58-58, Duke inbounded the ball near their basket. Kyle Filipowski cut to the hoop and attempted to throw down a game-winning dunk before time expired.
Unfortunately, a pair of Virginia Cavaliers stood in his way. In fact, the two shot blockers appeared to make incidental contact with Filipowski as he soared to the bucket.
That contact resulted in a foul call, which the officiating crew took a closer look at on the monitors. The refs then surprisingly overturned the call, saying that time expired at the time of the foul, and for that reason, the Blue Devil player wouldn’t be entitled to his free throw attempts.
Shortly after the game, ACC officials posted a message on social media telling the college basketball world that the call was wrong.
That admission shocked absolutely nobody who watched the game, and they were quick to post reactions online.
CBS columnist Gary Parrish wrote, “The ACC has officially announced what everybody except the refs in charge knew, i.e., that the refs messed up the end of Virginia-Duke. Duke’s Kyle Filipowski should’ve shot two free throws at the end of regulation. He’s a 77% FT shooter. He would’ve likely won the game.”
Fellow CBS writer Kyle Boone said, “Upon further review: Duke got hosed on the road at UVA. Kyle Filipowski should have had a chance to win it at the free throw line in regulation. Not sure how you overturn this foul call.”
It’s not the first time Filipowski has been involved in a controversial final play. In a recent loss to Virginia Tech, fans were upset about another no call after the Blue Devils center was inadvertently punched in the throat by an opposing player.
This most recent call prevented an upset bid for Duke, who is still fighting for postseason seeding. The Blue Devils fell to 17-8 with the loss, just missing out on adding a top 10 win to their resume.
Joe Lunardi currently has Duke slotted as a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament.