Dick Vitale calls out North Carolina fans for 'classless' behavior
Following North Carolina’s 87-67 blowout loss to rival Duke at home, fans let Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski hear their opinion of the legendary coach, who was making his final appearance in the Dean Dome before his retirement at the end of the season.
ESPN analyst Dick Vitale did not take kindly to the disrespect shown toward Krzyzewski after the game.
“The profanity at the @UNC_Basketball vs @DukeMBB game was a disgrace. The F_____ Coach K chants were classless. No place for that; I know UNC is better than that. It was pathetic & as @JFeinsteinBooks said DEAN SMITH would have never tolerated it,” Vitale wrote on Twitter.
After video released on social media of North Carolina’s fans starting an explicit chant against Duke, former Duke great Jay Williams called them out. The video showed Tar Heels fans begin an explicit chant about Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski as he took the court before the heated rivalry game on Saturday.
Warning: Explicit Language can be heard in the following video.
Krzyzewski was asked about how it felt walking onto the court to such a loud and hostile crowd. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the rivalry has not had the opportunity to have fans in attendance to increase the pressure as they did on Saturday.
“I’m used to that,” stated Krzyzewski. “Somebody just told me this is my 96th game. So at least half — probably 42 of them have been here in Chapel Hill. So I’m accustomed to that. I expect that. So I got what I expected and I’m always ready for it.”
Duke dominated for 40-straight minutes against the Tar Heels. Freshman forward A.J. Griffin went off for 27 points on 11-17 shooting, including nailing three of his six 3-point attempts.
Paolo Banchero and Wendell Moore notched 13 points a piece. Banchero followed his scoring performance up with 10 rebounds for a double-double while Moore hauled in eight boards and five assists. Trevor Keels came off the bench and dropped 11 (3-4 on 3-point attempts), the only non-started to score more than two points on the night.
Carolina on the other hand only had major production from Aramndo Bacot (12 points), Brady Manek (21 points) and R.J. Davis (11 points). The three-man squad amassed 44 of UNC’s 67 points on the night thanks to the Blue Devil’s defensive prowess.
Duke will look to follow their blowout victory up with a win against Virginia at home Monday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Blue Devils are 11-point favorites against the 14-9 Cavaliers.