No. 8 Virginia moves to 19-4; ACC admits to missing controversial call at buzzer

Realistically, in 1.2 seconds, you do not have much time. Maybe time for a dribble, time to make one basketball play, and then get the shot up toward the rim. However, on Saturday evening, in the final piece of regulation during the Duke at Virginia game, 1.2 second felt like a lot.

It started with Duke freshman Dariq Whitehead having the ball in the corner, furthest away from his bench at his own basket. Time ticked down, and the ball was swatted out of his hands. The whistle blew, and 0.8 seconds were on the clock. The official nearest the play called the ball out on Duke and pointed Virginia’s way.

Immediately, Duke asked for the officiating crew to review the call. There was a two-man huddle at the monitor. Quickly the call was overturned in Duke’s favor, and 1.2 seconds were put back on the clock. This was a simple mistake; you could see the referee as he walked over to the monitor, telling his counterpart that he pointed in the wrong direction. No argument from the Virginia sideline, and it was Duke’s ball at the far hashmark with 1.2 seconds left.

Also, this is a tie ball game. Duke’s Jacob Grandison knocked down his third corner three of the ball game to make it 58-58 with 50 seconds to go. The entire game was a game of runs. Careless turnovers and missed free throws; there are a lot of plays that both teams will want back.

Then it was more confusion than chaos

Duke freshman Tyrese Proctor inbounded the ball 1.2 seconds remaining at the far hash mark. Duke’s play called for their two forwards to screen for their two guards and then flash open beyond the three-point arc. The play took some time to develop, and Virginia overplayed it well, not allowing a lane for the pass to be inbounded.

Proctor showed patience, and Duke freshman Kyle Filipowski showed intuition. Reading the Virginia defenders positioning, Filipowski immediately cut backdoor. Proctor hit Filipowski in stride with a perfect bounce pass. Filipowski took two long strides and elevated for the dunk. He was met at the rim by Virginia junior Reece Beekman and Virginia freshman Ryan Dunn.

Then the confusion.

The whistle blew, as did the final horn. The referee’s hand went up as if to signal a foul. Filipowski fell to the ground, as did Beekman. The Duke bench jumped up; the Virginia bench jumped up. The trio of officials immediately huddled. They went to the monitor, everyone screaming, and after a minute or two, the officials signaled end of regulation.

In the building, there was no explanation, not that they owe one to the fans. The official call on the floor was no foul; time has expired, game is going to overtime.

What do we think Twitter…

Foul or no foul?! pic.twitter.com/WZgRIMTciv

— Jamie Shaw (@JamieShaw5) February 11, 2023

Rule 5, Section 7, Article 3c

A few hours after the game, the Atlantic Coast Conference sent out an official statement.

“Upon review of the final play of regulation during the Duke at Virginia men’s basketball game, has announced an incorrect adjudication of the playing rules.”

The statement went on to describe what the call was on the floor.

“A foul was called on Virginia’s Ryan Dunn during a shot attempt by Duke’s Kyle Filipowski as time expired. Upon the official’s review of the play it was determined that the foul committed occurred after the clock reached 0.0. However, the play should have resulted in two free throws for Duke.”

So according to the statement, there was no disputing what the foul call was, but the on-floor referees did not administer the proper ruling for what they called.

“Per Rule 5, Section 7, Article 3c of the NCAA Rule Book, while a foul occurred after expiration of play, the ball was still in flight, thus the student-athlete should have been granted two free throw attempts

“A.R. 130, Section 2 of the NCAA Casebook notes in a scenario where “Shooter A1 releases the ball, time expires, A1 is fouled while the ball is in flight and the true is unsuccessful, since the try was released before the expiration of time and since the foul occurred after time expired but while the ball was in flight and A1 was an airborne shooter, A1 shall attempt two free throws even if the first is successful.”

At the end of the day, the officials ruled there was a foul on the play and that no matter at what point in the attempt that foul occurred, Filipowski should have been awarded two free throws.

Now we know.

The ACC has released a statement on Saturday's Duke-Virginia game. pic.twitter.com/3tjAPAcnBf

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 12, 2023

Game notes

–Ben Vander Plas was the most important player on the floor for Virginia, especially down the stretch. The graduate transfer from Ohio University was the central piece of everything Virginia did in the second half. He made shots, made passes, and kept his team engaged throughout.

–Duke’s starting backcourt tandem of Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor combined for six assists to eight turnovers. However, it was the pair’s shot-making that was integral in keeping Duke in the game. They combined 13-23 from the field and 4-10 from three.

-Virginia’s Armaan Franklin made every big shot that the Cavaliers needed, including the corner three in overtime that gave Virginia a four-point lead with 0:39 seconds remaining. Franklin finished with 23 points; he was 9-13 from the field and 3-5 from three.

–Duke’s leading scorer, freshman Kyle Filipowski finished scoreless for the first time this season. He was 0-6 from the field with five turnovers.

-This was one of the unique games in that Duke won the rebounding margin by a good bit, 39-24. They made more threes, 9-4, and they shot better from the free throw line; Virginia was 9-22 (40.9%) from the stripe, yet still lost the game. The reasoning is Duke turned it over 22 times, and Virginia 9. This resulted in Virginia putting up five more field goal attempts, 54-49, and making six more shots, 28-22, overall.

–Duke senior Ryan Young has a nose for basketball. The 6-foot-10 senior finished ith a game-high 11 rebounds, four of which were offensive.