CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Chaos in John Paul Jones Arena.
With 1.2 seconds on the clock and the score tied at 58-58, Duke had the ball on its offensive end. The Blue Devils were out of timeouts but had the chance to inbound and get the final shot against No. 8 Virginia.
Star freshman Kyle Filipowski, held scoreless through the Blue Devils’ 69-62 overtime loss Saturday evening, cut to the basket to receive the inbound pass from classmate Tyrese Proctor. Filipowski took to the rim, and while he and Virginia guards Reece Beekman and Ryan Dunn were all airborne, two indisputable things happened: The ball left Filipowski’s hands and the buzzer sounded.
However, when all three players hit the ground with zero seconds on the clock, the referee signaled that a foul had occurred on the play. While it was unclear which Cavalier was called for the contact, the referees went directly to the monitor, seemingly to check that the ball left Filipowski’s hands before time ran out.
They determined that a foul either did not occur or took place after the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime and an animated Filipowski back to his coach.
Late Saturday night, the ACC released a statement on the final play of regulation, deeming it "an incorrect adjudication of the playing rules."
"A foul was called on Virginia’s Ryan Dunn during a shot attempt by Duke’s Kyle Filipowski as time expired," the statement reads. "Upon the officials’ review of the play, 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."
"Per Rule 5, Section 7, Article 3c of the NCAA Rule Book, 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," the statement continues.
The statement also points to a pertinent scenario noted in A.R. 130, Section 2 of the NCAA Casebook and specifies the finality of the ACC's action on the matter: "The ACC had addressed this situation with both institutions as well as the officiating crew. The conference considers this matter closed and will have no further comment."
Duke never quite found its footing after the play in question and fell to Virginia in the overtime period. No matter the final tally, confusion surrounding those last few fractions of a second was widespread, and the officials had already left the arena before pool reporters could ask about the call.
On Monday morning's weekly ACC media call, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer commented for the first time since the ACC released its statement Saturday night.
"For me, I’m angry still," Scheyer said. "I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t. Saturday was a disappointing outcome, of course all of us saw the ACC’s release and I respect them for putting it out, I respect them for acknowledging it, and obviously doesn't change the outcome that our guys didn't get the opportunity to earn a win.
"[Filipowski] had one of his worst games, and he makes a big-time play. So [to not] have that opportunity and go to the free throw line ... you can't get a rule wrong like that."
"So for me, it's not okay," Scheyer added. "I respect the ACC for putting that out, but I really hurt for our guys, because they played their hearts out. And there are things we could have done better, but their effort was incredible to put ourselves in position on the road to win that game."
Scheyer also mentioned that Filipowski sprained his ankle on the play and that his status is uncertain for Duke's Tuesday game against Notre Dame.
"We don't know his status yet," Scheyer said. "He's getting treatment this morning, he'll get an MRI, but we don't know yet."
After the game Saturday, both Scheyer and Virginia head coach Tony Bennett expressed confusion surrounding that initial call and the decision to overturn it.
"I do wish that [Filipowski] got that opportunity," Scheyer said. "I still would like an explanation of exactly what had happened. I don't have clarity on that, I can’t give you clarity on that."
"Well, [the officials] told me after the fact that the call was made after the buzzer," Scheyer added. "You can see the ball left his hands before point-zero. So I don't know, I don't know exactly what the rule is. I would like to get some clarification, to understand. But the call is made, so I don't know how the call can be taken away. But again, I'm not—I just would like clarity, and hate it for our guys."
"We have the advantage of seeing the replay, and boy, Reece (Beekman) got it, looked to me like a good block on it," Bennett said. "I would assume that the time ran out or the foul was after so I didn't see it. … Once they said no basket, and our staff was saying, “No, shot clock went out,” they weren't too worried. But until I saw the call, that's what I wanted to see. What’d you think? It's close, right? Bang bang. I’ll take it."
"You still think, though, he's going to make a play, every time,” Scheyer said of Filipowski. “Even when he hasn't played as well, he comes through. And so, end of the game, we wanted him in, he made a big-time play attacking the basket. And there's no doubt he's knocking down those free throws in my mind. That's the kind of competitor and who he is as a person.”
The loss to the Cavaliers drops Duke to 8-6 in the ACC—good for joint-seventh—and just 2-6 when playing away from home. Eyes are now on Tuesday evening, when the Fighting Irish visit Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This story was updated Saturday night after the ACC released a statement. The headline of this story was also updated from 'I just would like clarity': Scheyer, Bennett speak on final play of regulation in Duke men's basketball's loss at Virginia following the ACC’s statement.
This story was updated Monday morning to include Scheyer's comments on the weekly ACC media call.
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Rachael Kaplan is a Trinity junior and sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 119th volume.