‘I’m angry still’: Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer remains upset over missed call
Duke coach Jon Scheyer remained upset with the ACC on Monday, two days after the league admitted game officials made a crucial error on the final play of regulation in what became a 69-62 Virginia win over his Blue Devils.
“I‘m angry still,” Scheyer said. “I’d be I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t. Saturday was a disappointing outcome. All of us saw the ACC release. I respect them for pointing it out. I respect them for acknowledging it. Obviously doesn’t change the outcome that our guys didn’t get the opportunity to earn a win.”
The league said its game officials, Lee Cassell, Tim Clougherty and Jeffrey Anderson, made “an incorrect adjudication of the playing rules” when they waved off a foul called against Virginia’s Ryan Dunn. Clougherty signaled that Dunn fouled Duke’s Kyle Filipowski with the score tied at 58 and Filipowski attempting a dunk at the buzzer.
After looking at replay review, the officials ruled there was no foul, even though they aren’t allowed to use replay to determine if a foul was called. The ACC explained in its release Saturday that even if the foul occurred after time expired, according to NCAA rules, it should have been called because the ball left Filipowski’s hands prior to time expiring.
Filipowski, a 75% free throw shooter, should have been sent to the line for two free throws, the ACC said in the release.
“You can’t get a rule wrong like that,” Scheyer said. “So I hate it for our guys. Obviously, there’s a lot of season left to play. We have to move on and get ready for Notre Dame (Tuesday) night. But it was really disappointing. I feel for guys with that happening. In addition, not getting clarification, or not getting transparency after the game of why that rule is called or how you could overturn that. So for me, it’s not okay.”
The final play of regulation unfolded with 1.2 seconds left and the score tied at 58. Duke had possession, inbounding the ball from the sideline.
Tyrese Proctor was tasked with passing the ball. He waited for his four teammates to run through their play before the 7-foot Filipowski broke free in front of him on a backdoor cut. Proctor pushed a bounce pass toward Filipowski, who gathered the ball as he moved to the rim with what appeared to be a clear lane to the basket.
As he leaped with the ball, attempting to dunk it, Virginia’s Reece Beekman blocked it while Dunn leaped over the top from behind to block the ball. Clougherty blew his whistle and raised his hand, signaling a foul.
According to the ACC release, Rule 5, Section 7, Article 3c of the NCAA Rule Book applied, stating that while a foul occurred after expiration of play, the ball was still in flight, thus the student-athlete should have been granted two free throw attempts.
Through his anger, Scheyer said he’s always treated officials with respect during both his Duke playing career and as a Duke assistant prior to becoming head coach this season. But misapplication of a rule is a different matter, he said.
“My 14 years in the league speaks for itself with how I respect and treat officials dating back to when I played and who I’ve been as a coach,” Scheyer said. “They have a hard job. And there are calls that are gonna go against you. There are calls that are gonna be made that helped you, or that you earned or whatever the case may be. This, this is not that case. This was a rule. And that’s what can happen. You can’t miss a rule.”
In a case of adding injury to insult, Scheyer said Filipowski sprained his ankle on the play and his status for Tuesday’s game with Notre Dame at Cameron Indoor Stadium is uncertain. Though he went scoreless against Virginia, the 7-foot Filipowski leads Duke in scoring a 14.8 points per game.
“We don’t know his status yet,” Scheyer said. “He’s getting treatment this morning. We’ll get an MRI. But we don’t know yet.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2023 at 10:39 AM.