Duke head coach Jon Scheyer credits Virginia, addresses blown call following overtime loss

The Duke Blue Devils came up short in overtime against the Virginia Cavaliers Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils fell 69-62 after appearing to be gassed in the overtime period. Still, before the game went into bonus play, Duke had a chance to upset the No. 8 team in the nation. Unfortunately, the officiating crew overturned an apparent foul call that sent the game into overtime.

After the game, in the postgame press conference, Duke’s head coach Jon Scheyer had a chance to take the officiating crew to task over the blown call. Instead, the Blue Devils’ headman elected to take a different route.

“We battled, but it’s disappointing – we came here to win. Virginia is a really good team but you’re not going to beat anyone with 22 TOs – I haven’t seen the play at the end and can’t comment without looking at it,” said Scheyer.

When pressed further during his press conference, Scheyer shared what the referees told him about the place, although he did not fully agree.

“They told me after the fact that the call was made after the buzzer,” said Scheyer. “And you can see the ball left his hands before 0.0, so 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 understand how the call can be taken away.”

Controversial replay leads to overtime between Duke, Virginia

The Duke Blue Devils and Virginia Cavaliers were battling it out in Charlottesville in John Paul Jones Arena. It was a hard-fought game on Saturday afternoon from both teams. The Blue Devils went cold for a really long stretch in the second half, which allowed the Cavaliers to make a run and even take the lead.

The game had its share of controversy, with the contest tied up at 58-58 in the final seconds, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski drove to the hoop for a dunk, but the shot was blocked by Virginia’s Reece Beekman. However, referees called a foul initially, before reviewing it and determining it came after the final buzzer. On the replay, it looks like he was fouled before the clock hit zero. However, referees called it a clean block until after the clock ran out, and the game went to overtime tied at 58-58.

With the loss, Duke falls to 17- 8 on the season and 8-6 in conference play. The Blue Devils’ road woes continue as the team is 2-6 away from Cameron Indoor Stadium. If Duke has any chance at winning the ACC tournament to end the year or progressing in the NCAA tournament, they will need to figure out a way to win away from their home confines. Being 12-0 at home is great, but it will not help come tournament time, especially if Duke can’t figure out how to win on the road.