Kyle Filipowski injured as Wake Forest fans storm court following upset of Duke

Duke suffered an upset at the hands of Wake Forest on Saturday but might have taken a much bigger blow in the waning moments at the end of the game. Star Kyle Filipowski was injured as the court was stormed by fans.

Filipowski was walking off the court when a fan cut in front of him. As Filipowski attempted to protect himself, it appeared that his ankle rolled as other fans swarmed by him.

He was immediately surrounded by teammates and staffers, who helped usher him off the court through the madness.

Duke’s Kyle Filipowski appears to get injured amid the court-storming by Wake Forest students. pic.twitter.com/Rn0v39ayZS

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) February 24, 2024

Should Filipowski’s injury prove to be anything serious, it will mar an otherwise terrific afternoon for Wake Forest. That is precisely the reason storming the court is so heavily discouraged.

Coach Jon Scheyer appeared to reveal Filipowski’s injury after the game while questioning why court-storming is allowed.

“Flip sprains his ankle,” Scheyer said. “When are we going to ban court stormings?”

Filipowski was coming off a very strong game against Wake Forest, though not enough to help his team secure the win. He finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, while also recording five assists in the contest.

He’s the heart and soul of Duke’s frontcourt, which also saw center Ryan Young foul out in the contest against the Demon Deacons.

The game itself on Saturday was a back-and-forth affair through much of the afternoon. Duke led by two at halftime and even led well into the second half before Wake Forest finally put together the run that put it ahead for good.

The Demon Deacons got excellent contributions late from guard Cameron Hildreth, who hit a crucial 3-pointer late in the second half and repeatedly got to the free-throw line late.

But it was guard Hunter Sallis who really keyed things for Wake Forest. He finished with 29 points on an eye-opening 11-of-13 shooting in the contest, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range.

Other double-figure scorers for Wake Forest in the contest were Andrew Carr (18) and Kevin Miller (15).

The game was sealed when Duke’s final possession starting with about 10 seconds left to play and trailing by two points came up empty. Guard Tyrese Proctor dribbled up the floor and attempted to get a pass off to Filipowski, but it came of Filipowski’s hand and went out of bounds, giving Wake Forest possession back.

A pair of free throws stretched the lead to four points and effectively ended the contest, an 83-79 Wake Forest win.