Seth Greenberg calls out officials for controversial call in Duke vs Virginia Tech

During the halftime of ESPN’s second game of their Monday night college basketball doubleheader Baylor hosting Kansas, Seth Greenberg, and LaPhonso Ellis recapped the first matchup between Duke and Virginia Tech. The duo got right to the point, addressing the elephant in the room, which was the late no-call when Hokies’ guard Michael MJ Collins unintentionally hit Duke’s Kyle Filipowski in the throat.

Greenberg did not mince words and sided against the officials, stating that the contact should have drawn a flagrant one foul regardless of the intent.

“At the end of this play, you see Michael Collins celebrating. By accident, he catches Filipowski in his throat,” said Greenberg. “There does not have to be intent to be a flagrant one. Obviously, that’s not incidental contact; there’s no intent. But that is contact above the shoulders. That is a flagrant one.

“This is not a hard call. I’ll tell you, when you see this play, there was no intent right there. There was a young guy that just made a big play a freshman, and he’s celebrating.”

Ellis was also in step with his colleague, further highlighting the point that a hit above the shoulders is the criteria specifically highlighted for at least a flagrant one foul.

“MJ Collins made a huge shot. And he was just turning to celebrate, as any of us would. Unfortunately, Kyle Filipowski’s face was right there,” said Ellis. “And Seth talked about it earlier; it’s not really about intent. If you hit someone above the shoulders that way, it’s a flagrant one foul. It should be two free throws and the ball at the point of possession.”

Filipowski takes a shot

With Duke and Virginia Tech tied at 75, Hokies guard Michael Collins Jr pulled up from the right side to hit a critical two-point shot to take the lead 77-75. As Collins turned to celebrate his clutch shot over Duke, he fist-pumped right into the throat of Filipowski. Filipowski hunched over for a moment briefly after taking the shot and was able to head to the bench.

The referees on the court went over to review the incident to see if it met the qualifications for a flagrant foul one or two. After a brief deliberation, the officiating crew decided that the contact was incidental as Collins hit Filipowski right as he turned around to celebrate his shot.