The Duke basketball team suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech on Monday night, but the go-ahead bucket for the Hokies led to plenty of controversy.
Virginia Tech’s Michael Collins Jr. put the Hokies ahead with 13 seconds left in the game. When he turned around to celebrate his clutch bucket, his fist punch went right into the throat of Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, who immediately doubled over. The inadvertent punch led to a lengthy booth review to determine if the strike was a Flagrant foul.
“Yeah, he just elbowed me right in my Adam’s apple,” Filipowski said after the game, via Conor O’Neill of Devils Illustrated. “I couldn’t breathe for a minute, but I just needed to throw up and I was good.”
— Leonard GLAMilton (@LennyGlam) January 24, 2023
Ultimately, the officiating crew determined that the punch was not a Flagrant foul, and Duke went on to lose the game.
Considering the rules do not require intent for a Flagrant to be called, the Blue Devils definitely could have gotten a call. But in the end, it was up to the officiating crew, and they determined no harm, no foul — which the Hokies have to appreciate.
