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ACC official Roger Ayers pauses game, ejects Virginia fan vs. Duke

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•02/17/25•

BarkleyTruax

Fan

A fan was ejected during the first half of the Virginia–Duke game on Monday night.

Play was stopped late in the first half by the officials, where lead official Roger Ayers pointed out a fan across the court. The fan, an older gentleman in a green sweater, began walking up the stairs inside the John Paul Jones Arena. He saluted the crowd and shook hands with another on his way out.

It’s unclear what made Ayers toss the fan, but it appeared enough to where Ayers decided he had to leave the arena.

Duke led Virginia 34-22 with 5:16 left in the first half when the fan was ejected, and the Blue Devils would eventually take a 42-29 lead into the halftime break.

Their two freshman stars, Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, each scored 10 points in the first half. Flagg logged 11 rebounds to log a double-double during the first 20 minutes of ation as well. Isaiah Evans also provided a major boost to Duke’s efforts, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts to end the half with nine points.

For UVA, Andrew Rohde finished the first half with a game-high 11 points thanks to a pair of made 3-pointers. Dai Dai Ames and Isaac McKneely combined for 13 points as well.

If Duke can hold on, it will be their third consecutive victory since their hiccup on the road at Clemson on Feb. 8. It serves as the only loss for the Blue Devils since late November and their only loss in ACC play.

Monday’s matchup will be the first and only time these two programs will meet during the regular season. There’s the potenital for them to play again in the ACC Tournament, but that remains to be seen.

Duke comes into this matchup just 48 hours removed from hanging 106 points on Stanford in a 36-point win in Durham. Flagg scored 19 points to go along with six assists and five rebounds in that matchup, but was aided by a game-high 24 points from veteran point guard Tyrese Proctor.

A win over Virginia will mean Duke heads into this weekend’s matchup against Illinois on the road having been 17-1 in their last 18 games and in sole possession of first place in the ACC Standings. After that, Duke will have just four more games remaining on their regular season schedule, including the season finale at North Carolina.