Officials make controversial call late in Duke-North Carolina game

A couple controversial calls down the stretch in the Duke–North Carolina game got the crowd heated and chanting some nasty things at Blue Devils big man Kyle Filipowski.

Filipowski was involved in a foul on North Carolina guard RJ Davis following a whistle with just a few minutes to play, and officials went to the monitor to review whether Filipowski whacking Davis across the foreheard would be a dead ball technical.

They deemed it to be incidental contact and did not hit Filipowski with a technical.

A few moments later, on the other end of the floor, Filipowski went for a rebound and contested it with Davis, who came down hooking Filipowski’s arm. Officials would go to the monitor and review it, hitting Davis with a technical foul. Fans did not like the call, as it appeared both players were equally tangled up.

You can view some of the aftermath below.

Referee Roger Ayers correctly predicts he's "about to get booed real bad" after a foul review during the final minute of UNC's win over Duke. pic.twitter.com/PiW4v0fkK3

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 4, 2024

Filipowski split the free throws and Duke got the ball, making it at least a smidgen of a game inside the final minute at 88-80. But it was a game that North Carolina dominated from start to finish.

It just wouldn’t be a Duke-North Carolina game without some drama, particularly over judgment call fouls.

And Filipowski may have gotten away with the first one against Davis, which had the fans chanting at him after picking up a fourth foul. ESPN announcer Jay Bilas certainly thought the foul on Davis was worthy of a technical.

“Well same thing it wouldn’t be a flagrant one, it would be a dead ball, non-contact technical, but it’s the same result,” Bilas said. “North Carolina would get an additional couple of free throws. But I don’t see, considering it was above the shoulders and contact with the head it’s hard to argue that was necessary contact. That’s unnecessary.”

Filipowski finished the game with 22 points and five rebounds. He was unable to help Duke make it a real game.

North Carolina led early and maintained a solid lead throughout most of the contest.

The Tar Heels finished with four double-figure scorers in the contest: Armando Bacot (25), Harrison Ingram (21), RJ Davis (17) and Seth Trimble (10).

While both teams shot the ball well, turnovers played a big part. Duke turned it over 11 times to just five for North Carolina, while those 11 turnovers resulted in 19 points for the Tar Heels.