Perhaps second time is the charm.
There was just one problem when North Carolina fans initially stormed the court for the No. 14 Tar Heels’ 71-68 win over rival No. 4 Duke on Saturday: time was still on the clock.
With the game tied at 68, UNC guard Seth Trimble nailed a 3-point shot in the corner as the clock ran down to put his team up three, prompting fans in the sellout crowd at the Dean E. Smith Center to run on the court in celebration.
Upon further review, however, officials found that there was still 0.4 seconds left on the clock, theoretically giving Duke enough time to get a shot up and potentially tie the game.
Officials then had to clear the hundreds of fans on the court for the final play as spectators quickly filed back into the stands after the arena’s public address announcer told fans to head back to their seats.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer, however, was not at all appreciative of the Tar Heels fans storming the court prematurely, telling reporters after the game that staff members of his were “punched in the face.”
“It’s hard to talk about the game when I was most concerned about the safety of our players,” Scheyer said. “I don’t wanna make it about that because Carolina played a great game to win and that’s a heartbreaking loss for our team.
“But I got staff members that got punched in the face. My family pushing people away trying to not get trampled. That’s not what this game is about. That was a scary ending.”
Scheyer added that he is not opposed to fans celebrating on the court, but clarified that the players need to be off the court first.
“I’m all for court storming,” he added. “Trust me… they won, they should celebrate. But just let us get our guys off safely first. That’s it.”
North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham showed remorse for the fans’ behavior, saying in a statement that he also apologized to Scheyer.
“I was here for coach Scheyer (press conference) and I apologized to (him) before he came in here. Rivalry games are tremendous, court stormings, he mentioned, absolutely fabulous,” Cunningham said, per 247 Sports. “And it’s really tough, and I feel for our event staff. When they rushed the court, a number of people got knocked over. But then we had to clear the court again.
“When we normally have something like just rushing the court, and the game is over, we have a line by the benches to get people off safely. Again, I apologize to coach (Scheyer), his family and obviously if someone got injured, that’s just very disappointing. We’ll do the best we can to make sure that doesn’t happen (again), but again, my apologies to Duke for that.”
Duke (21-2, 10-1 ACC) ultimately could not make anything of their lifeline, sealing the win for the Tar Heels.
Like clockwork, fans stormed the court a second time to celebrate North Carolina’s win — this time without any interruption from referees.
The Tar Heels handed Duke just its second loss of the season and its first in ACC conference play.
North Carolina improved to 19-4 and are 7-3 in the ACC.
Saturday’s game was the first NCAA meetup between star freshmen Caleb Wilson of UNC and Cameron Boozer of Duke, both of whom are expected to be lottery picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Wilson led the way for North Carolina, scoring 23 points and grabbing four rebounds on 8-for-12 shooting.
“We gotta give them that belt,” Wilson said of Duke to ESPN alongside his teammates immediately following the win.
Despite the loss, Boozer did not disappoint for Duke, scoring 24 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while shooting 10-for-21 from the field.
