Duke finds itself the owner of a four-game winning streak heading into Wednesday's showdown at No. 5 North Carolina—due in part to a no-call on the final play of Saturday's win against No. 7 Virginia.
As sophomore Grayson Allen bulldozed his way through the lane on his way to sinking the game-winning bank shot as time expired, his right foot appeared to touch the ground before he released the ball—a near-impossible call to recognize and make in real time, but nonetheless a play that should have resulted in a travel call.
Ball still in Grayson Allen's hand as his foot comes back down. @MattNorlander @GaryParrishCBS pic.twitter.com/LIWxR5Fu8w
— George Wishart (@GWBiscuit) February 13, 2016
The officials reviewed the play to determine whether or not Allen got the shot off in time—which he did—but are not allowed to check for and subsequently call a travel upon replay review.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski was asked on a conference call with reporters Monday whether more attention has been paid to controversial calls in the social media age, with the ability to replay possessions on endless loops from more angles.
But the 69-year-old did not take the bait.
"I think our games over the years, if it’s a close call and we lose, there wouldn’t be any scrutiny. If we win, there will be unbelievable scrutiny," Krzyzewski said. "There wasn’t scrutiny at the end of Utah or the last 11 seconds of Syracuse, because we lost. But that’s happened over the years, I don’t think it’s anything new."
Krzyzewski was referencing the end of two of Duke's six losses when he felt Blue Devil players were not rewarded with foul calls. Agains the Utes at Madison Square Garden Dec. 19, Brandon Ingram drew contact from a Utah defender in the final seconds before missing an open look that would have sent the game to a second overtime. Against the Orange Jan. 18, Matt Jones jumped into the middle of a scrum for a loose ball after an Allen miss and the ball was poked away, though Krzyzewski seemed adamant Jones had been fouled, calling the game "literally amazing" in his postgame press conference.
After Saturday's game, Virginia head coach Tony Bennett quipped in his postgame press conference that he told Krzyzewski in their postgame handshake that he felt Allen had traveled, and Krzyzewski responded by saying that the sophomore had been fouled.
"The shot [Virginia guard Malcolm] Brogdon hit was an amazing shot, an amazing shot by an amazing player. Then what Grayson did was an amazing play by an amazing player," Krzyzewski said Monday. "You saw two, I thought, incredible plays at the end of the game."
That answer, though, did not quite satisfy fans at Virginia's home game against N.C. State Monday night.
Shoutout to this guy... pic.twitter.com/2qmXFMaj2i
— NC State Men's Bball (@PackMensBball) February 15, 2016
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