by Duke coach Jon Scheyer handled his team’s 69-62 overtime loss to Virginia gracefully on Saturday after the officials called – then reviewed and dismissed – a foul that would have sent top scorer Kyle Filipowski to the line in regulation with a game-winning chance. In his first public comments since the dust settled over the weekend, however, Scheyer was more forceful in his response to the sequel, insisting that the official team’s clumsy handling was not acceptable.
“I’m still angry,” Scheyer said Monday on the ACC’s weekly conference call. “I would be lying to you if I said no. Saturday was a disappointing result. We all saw the ACC launch. I respect them for pointing that out. I respect them for acknowledging it. It obviously doesn’t change the result that our guys didn’t have the opportunity to earn a victory.”
The ACC admitted last Saturday night that its officiating team made an error in deflecting the foul after a review at the end of regulation. In a press release, the league office said the streak was misjudged and that Filipowski should have been awarded two free throws with the game tied at 58.
“The Atlantic Coast Conference, following the final game review of regulation during the Duke at Virginia men’s basketball game, announced an incorrect judgment of the rules of the game,” the ACC statement said. “A foul was called on Virginia’s Ryan Dunn during a shot attempt by Duke’s Kyle Filipowski as time expired. Upon review of the play by the officials, it was determined that the foul committed occurred after the clock reached 0 ,0. However, the play should have resulted in two free throws for Duke.”
Scheyer after the game was more confused than upset by what happened on the final play in regulation that seemingly set up Duke to win with free throws before the call was reversed and the game was sent into overtime. The official staff informed him that the call was made “after the bell”, but he admitted that he did not know exactly what the rule was. Mainly, he sought clarity, which he got from the ACC admitting it was wrong.
“You can’t get a rule wrong like that,” Scheyer said. “So I hate it for our guys. Obviously there’s still a lot of season left to play. We’ve got to move on and get ready for Notre Dame night (Tuesday). But it was really disappointing. I feel for the guys about that happening. Also, not getting clarification or not getting transparency after the game about why this rule is applied or how you can override it. So for me, it’s not okay.
The consequences of the defeat were just as bad for Duke. The botched finish likely not only cost the Blue Devils a road win – which would have been a huge Quad 1 win for their resume – but also dropped them to No. 7 in CBS Sports’ latest Bracketology Jerry Palm while improving the Virginia’s postseason, moving from third to second.
