Another late no-call after a lengthy review by officials led to another Duke loss in conference play Saturday as the Blue Devils lost 69-62 in overtime to No. 8 Virginia.
Weeks after star freshman Kyle Filipowski was punched in the throat late in a game vs. Virginia Tech — which was reviewed and determined it did not warrant a flagrant foul — officials on Saturday once again reviewed a play involving Filipowski that would have decided the game and potentially flipped it in favor of Duke. And again officials decided against calling a foul.
With the game knotted at 58 in the final seconds of regulation of a back-and-forth game vs. the Cavaliers, Filipowski went up for a layup to potentially win the game and missed the shot at the rim as time expired. Officials initially called a foul on the play, but after a review they waved off the foul and sent the game to overtime.
Reece Beekman had what initially looked like a clean block on Filipowski, but at the end of the play contact was made that warranted the foul in a bang-bang sequence. The contact, though, may have been after the horn had gone off, thus opening the door for the officials to withdraw the foul call.
“[The officials] told me after the fact that the call was made after the buzzer,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said of Filipowski’s play attacking the rim. “You can see the ball left his hands before 0.00. I don’t exactly know what the rule was. The call was made so I don’t know how the call can get taken away. But again, I just would like clarity. Hate it for our guys.”
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander spoke with an officiating source after the game who said it appeared that an illegal contact foul was committed by Virginia on the play but officials during the review likely determined that it happened after the clock hit zero.
Had the foul call stood, Filipowski, a 77% free-throw shooter entering the game (who was 0-for-2 from the line vs. UVA) would have been sent to the free-throw line to shoot two shots and potentially win the game in regulation for Duke. Instead, the Cavaliers used the extra time to rally at home to a seven-point victory.
