WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Hunter Sallis scored 29 points while Andrew Carr had a huge second-half performance to help Wake Forest edge No. 8 Duke 83-79 on Saturday, earning a massive boost to its NCAA Tournament chances.
As Demon Deacons fans stormed the court to celebrate, Duke star Kyle Filipowski appeared to be shaken up after a collision with a fan running by him as he walked toward the locker room tunnel. He was hobbled and had to be helped off the court amid the chaos.
Sallis capped this one by hitting two free throws with 1.8 seconds left to start the celebration for the Demon Deacons (18-9, 10-6 Atlantic Coast Conference). And Carr finished with 16 of his 18 points after halftime, including dominant stretches coming out of the break that had the Demon Deacons feeding him to facilitate out of the post or score over Mark Mitchell inside.
Filipowski had 17 points to lead the Blue Devils (21-6, 12-4).
The Duke head coach, Jon Scheyer, said Filipowski has a sprained ankle.
WFMY News 2 spoke with Filiopowski after the collision.
"I've felt a bunch of hits on my body, this one was the worst of them," said Filipowski. "It's just really ridiculous of how that situation was handled."
"I feel like it was personal, intentional, for sure," commented Filipowski. "There's no excuse for that."
The Wake Forest Director of Athletics, John Curie, released a statement about the incident:
"On behalf of Wake Forest, we sincerely regret the unfortunate on-court incident following this afternoon’s men’s basketball game and hope the involved Duke student-athlete is doing better. I called Duke Vice President and Director of Athletics Nina King and ACC Senior Associate Commissioner Paul Brazeau immediately after the game and expressed our sincere regret for the situation and our concern for the Duke student-athlete’s well-being. Although our event management staff and security had rehearsed postgame procedures to protect the visiting team and officials, we clearly must do better. I appreciate the postgame comments of Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer and I am in complete agreement that something more must be done about the national phenomenon of court and field storming and Wake Forest looks forward to being a part of those conversations."
The ACC Commissioner, Dr. Jim Philips, also released a statement about the incident:
“The safety of our student-athletes is always our top priority. We have been and will continue to be, in contact with both Duke and Wake Forest regarding what happened following today’s game. Across college athletics, we have seen far too many of these incidents that put individuals at serious risk, and it will require the cooperation of all – including spectators – to ensure everyone’s well-being. As a conference, we will continually assess with our schools the best way to protect our student-athletes, coaches, and fans.”
"When are we going to ban court storming?" asked Scheyer. "It's a dangerous thing."
"I don't want that to take away from the game Wake played, because Wake played a big-time game," commented Scheyer.
Wake Forest head coach, Steve Forbes, said he did not see the incident between the crowd and Filipowski, but hoped that he was okay.
Forbes also said he does not like court stormings.
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