Duke HC Jon Scheyer heated after ‘scary ending’ to North Carolina clash

Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer expressed frustration and concern following a chaotic ending to Saturday night’s rivalry game, where No. 14 North Carolina stunned No. 4 Duke 71–68 at the Dean Smith Center.

The Blue Devils looked in control at halftime, leading 41–29, but the Tar Heels outscored them 42–27 in the second half. With 2:51 remaining, North Carolina trailed 68–62, but a furious 9–0 run turned the game around in their favor. Senior guard Seth Trimble’s corner three with 0.4 seconds left, which at first seemed to come as time expired, put the Tar Heels ahead for the first time and sent ecstatic fans rushing the court in a chaotic celebration.

Scheyer described the aftermath as “a scary ending” and raised safety concerns for his players, staff, and family members.

“For me, it’s hard to talk about the game when I was most concerned for the safety of our players after the game,” he said. “I don’t want to make it about that, because Carolina played a great game to win. That’s a heartbreaking loss for our team.

“You know, I got staff members that got punched in the face. My family had people pushing away, trying to not get trampled. That’s not what this game is about. You give them all the credit in the world. It’s not about the game, but obviously, that was a scary ending that this rivalry is not about.”

This was the second time in three seasons that a court storm caused trouble for Duke, bringing back memories of February 2024 at Wake Forest when Kyle Filipowski was injured after being struck by a fan.

When asked if he wants court-storming to be banned, Scheyer clarified that he supports court-storming in principle, but he believes players must be able to exit safely before fans rush the court.

“We put our players in a position where they’re face-to-face with people who can do anything at any time,” said Scheyer. “It just takes one reaction. I thought, even today, I had to push people away to protect our players. I’m all for court storming, trust me. They won. They should celebrate. If they want to celebrate, court storm. But just let us get our guys off safely. That’s it. That’s where I’m at with that.”

North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham apologized to Scheyer and the Duke program, acknowledging at least one injury occurred during the chaos.

“When they rushed the court, a number of people got knocked over,” Cunningham said. “But then we had to clear the court again. So when we normally have something like just rushing the court and the game is over, we do have a line by the benches to get people off safely.

“Obviously, if somebody got injured, that’s just really, really disappointing. We’ll do the best we can to make sure that doesn’t happen, but again, my apologies to Duke for that.”

Video review confirmed there were still 0.4 seconds left on the clock after Trimble’s shot, requiring the court to be cleared before the final play. Once the game officially ended, fans re-stormed the floor while Duke attempted to exit.

Blue Devils freshman Cameron Boozer led all scorers with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Tar Heels freshman Caleb Wilson scored 23 points. Trimble finished with 16 points, three steals, two rebounds, and one block.

Boozer’s double-double could not salvage a Duke team undone by feeble field-goal efficiency, shooting just 45 percent from the field, eight squandered turnovers, and fifteen fouls.

The Blue Devils’ record slipped to 21–2 overall as they suffered their first ACC loss of the season and their first home loss at the Dean Smith Center since February 3, 2024. They will look to regroup when they travel to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Tuesday.

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