CONTROVERSIAL ENDING Clemson at #12 Duke | January 27, 2024

Clemson guard Joe Girard III tried to go after an official postgame before he was held back in the emotional aftermath of the Tigers' 72-71 loss at Duke on Saturday.
The Blue Devils, down by one, had the ball with 7.4 seconds to play when Tyrese Proctor drove down the court and drew a foul. He hit both free throws to give Duke a one-point lead with one second to play. Girard threw a full-court pass to Clemson star PJ Hall, who appeared to collide with Duke's Mark Mitchell before he fumbled the ball, which sealed the win for the Blue Devils.
Tigers coach Brad Brownell exchanged words with an official after that no-call and then Girard ran toward an official as the crew was being escorted off the court before a Clemson staffer, along with Brownell, grabbed him and pulled him back. After the game, Brownell said the officiating shifted the outcome.
Clemson hasn't defeated Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995.
"I think we've had some history with that official," Brownell said. "There was a lot of emotion from our bench because we're a passionate group that fought their tails off and feel like the game was maybe taken from us a little bit. It shouldn't be decided like that."
Brownell did not specify which official he was referencing. Clemson had 20 fouls and Duke had 17 fouls in the game.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer said he was proud of his team for the way it finished the game. Proctor (18 points) extended a four-game hot streak and freshman Jared McCain (21 points) showcased his full potential in the win, he said. Both players executed after Kyle Filipowski (2-for-8), who'd struggled throughout the contest, picked up his fifth foul late.
The officiating? Scheyer said it was a physical game for both teams.
"For me, I can go through the whole game and talk about the different plays of them pushing us in the back when we're blocking out," Scheyer said. "I can go down the whole game. All I know is Tyrese Proctor made a heckuva play at the end to drive it to the basket and he gets fouled, shooting two free throws. He should be celebrated for that.
"I'm not going to go through -- every game that we play -- the officials after a game, what they called and what they didn't call. All I know is I'm proud of my team, man. For finding a way to win and playing through contact. I think there was a lot of contact both ways."
Duke is now 10-1 in its past 11 games, a week before it faces rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Clemson last defeated Duke on the road on Jan. 4, 1995, in a 75-70 victory. That game was significant because it was Mike Krzyzewski's final game of the season. Complications following back surgery ended his year 12 games into the season. Assistant Pete Gaudet coached the rest of the 1994-95 campaign.
Brownell has been coach for a multitude of Duke's losses at Cameron Indoor Stadium over the past 30 years. After the game, he noted a two-point loss at Duke two years ago that felt similar to Saturday's outcome.
"I do think there were times when our guys were getting hit and it didn't seem the same [with the foul calls]," Brownell said. "We lost by two the last time I was here and we had the lead with two minutes to go. I've been here, in this same situation, about four times, within a possession, and I haven't won one yet. Tonight was as close as we got. We got to one second and had it taken from us."

[@CardinalSafetyMan]

Who is on the call for this game? It has to be an ex-Duke player. The last play where they called the foul on the Clemson player, the announcer is saying "that is a foul". The replays show the defender went straight up and down and the Duke player initiated the contact by pushing his hand into the defenders hands.

[@heels013]

Cory Alexander, former UVA player. Dude is the worst commentator in the ACC

[@robitaillecopeland1996]

Duke def got a friendly home-town whistle this game. Several questionable calls, any one that could have been the difference in the win

[@omtty2362]

Guess who they wanted 2 win😂

[@LenchZo32]

That’s a foul, he should’ve called it earlier… but it was definitely the right call.

[@darinhamm689]

That is a terrible call. Arms up, the player has a right to his space.

[@keithschilling2163]

That’s one of the worst calls ever

[@YungBK_]

Dude literally high five him lol what are you talking about ?

[@zachansen8293]

You don't watch much sports, do you?

[@soundofwhat]

Going back and looking at this, Brownell was right. So many more no-calls of Duke fouls. It looks like the refs had a double standard near the end. Clemson guys were getting held and hit. Steal at 19 seconds was an obvious reach and a foul. Then at 15.2 Flip bulldozed a guy who had his hands up and gets a call. I want to win fair and straight up, not with help from refs who tip the game.

[@JTBonner77]

I can't stand Dook but that's a foul.

[@400bones6]

This was an awful call for a guy literall engaging all of the contact pushing in for it, give me a break....

[@YungBK_]

Just here to say PJ hall traveled before flip fouled him. Dude shouldnt have even got those free throws at the end of the game. You can see it clear as day in this video lol

[@mrjimi1]

I mean, the contact surrounding that looks like 90% of the fouls I see get called through the first 38 minutes of the game. And anyway it looks to me like his first foot is in the air when he picks up his dribble. Then two feet hit before his shot goes up. I'm not sure that's a travel.

[@YungBK_]

@@mrjimi1 he shuffled his pivots, that’s a travel

[@mrjimi1]

​@@YungBK_I'm looking at the wrong play. Must have read Proctor instead of PJ. Weird.

[@lionheart4529]

I’m gonna say this Clemson should have beaten us by 6-10 points. I’m not a fan of Coach Scheyer at all. He’s not an effective coach at all and hope they fire him after next season because I see Duke losing two to three more games this season. That last play was a walk in the park by Proctor, and this was a bad win but hey I guess a win is a win. #BDN 🥴🤦‍♂️

[@YungBK_]

If you think Jon is a bad coach you don’t know basketball and you’re spoiled

[@sethbritt4564]

@@YungBK_I can’t speak to the Jon sheyee but that game was ref ball all the way

[@YungBK_]

@@sethbritt4564 lol there was a lot of calls missed on both ends but the call at the end was right, his hand was hit. Also PJ Hall traveled before Flip fouled him on that last play. Clemson shouldn’t have even got those 2 free throws he had

[@jamschott]

Okay I am going to ask you the same question I ask everyone who says to fire him. Say we do. Who do we bring in that will be so much better? This includes recruiting which scheyer is very good at, look at the class he has coming in. That is part of having success. He is also very wise with using timeouts to stop runs. Did it in the virginia tech game very effectively. That right there is good coaching.

[@jamschott]

​@sethbritt4564 people like you are hilarious. You realize even with so called "duke getting all the calls" clemson had a 4 point lead with 2 minutes left. Scheffelin then proceeded to turn it over multiple times one leading to an easy two from McCain. Then he and one's flip to foul out. Then flip fouls out which is odd considering the "refs want duke to win". If they wanted that then why would they foul out dukes best big. Then clemson fouls protor. Also realize if we cancel out the foul on flip with 7.4 and the foul on clemson with 1.0 then duke still wins by 1-3 points potentially. How about clemson learn to close out a game and not have it come down to the last play. This trend in sports from fans blaming refs for certain teams losing is just sad and pathetic, and the players and coaches winning is even more pathetic.

[@LenchZo32]

Travel on Clemson @11:43