There might not be a better rivalry in all of sports than Duke vs. North Carolina in men’s college basketball. Saturday’s matchup between two top-10 teams took on even more meaning than usual with an ACC regular season championship on the line. Duke and UNC would split the league title if Duke won, and the Tar Heels would win it outright with a win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke’s Kyle Filipowski tripped North Carolina player in intentional dirty play
The spirit of Grayson Allen compelled Kyle Filipowski to blatantly trip a North Carolina player.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
With so much on the line, the game was bound to be tense. That tension spilled over for an ugly moment in the first half from Duke star Kyle Filipowski.
Filipowski appeared to intentionally trip UNC’s Harrison Ingram as play resumed down the other end of the court. Grayson Allen, is that you? This is a terrible look for the Blue Devils. Watch video of Filipowski’s trip here:
It was only a few weeks ago that Filipowski appeared to get injured as Wake Forest fans stormed the court after an upset win over Duke. That incident set off days of discourse on whether court storming should be banned. Filipowski did not miss any time or suffer any sort of significant injury.
Filipowski’s trip could have been a flagrant foul, but somehow he got away unscathed. He remains in the game for this critical matchup.
Grayson Allen had several infamous tripping incidents during his time at Duke. Allen received an “indefinite” suspension under Mike Krzyzewski in 2017 for tripping, but it only lasted one game. Will Filipowski face any discipline? Probably not. But dirty plays like this one have no place in the game, especially not in a rivalry as wonderful as UNC vs. Duke.
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