Duke star big man Kyle Filipowski said he didn't intend to trip North Carolina forward Harrison Ingram during the first half of Saturday night's rivalry game after the two got tangled as Filipowski defended a shot by Ingram.
“I'm not really too sure how that whole situation happened, to be honest,” Filipowski said after the seventh-ranked Tar Heels' 84-79 win against the ninth-ranked Blue Devils. “I was really just getting up. My foot slipped. I don't know how I caught him. That's really all I've got.”
Ingram had missed the shot and both players ended up on the floor near the 6-minute mark. But as Ingram got up to run back on defense, replays showed Filipowski kicking up his right leg and tripping Ingram back down to the hardwood near midcourt.
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UNC coach Hubert Davis immediately started frantically motioning for officials to look at the replay, but there was no whistle, stoppage or review as the rivalry battle continued.
But the play got some extra attention given that former Duke player Grayson Allen had multiple tripping incidents several years ago, including one against Elon in December 2016 that led to a one-game team suspension and another the previous season against Florida State that led to a reprimand from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Ingram turned back to tell official Ted Valentine that he thought he had been tripped during the sequence. Afterward, Ingram told reporters he felt Filipowski had tripped him but he was “not really sure” and hadn't seen a replay yet.
“I thought he did,” Ingram said, explaining those were his feelings in the moment. “I'm not sure if it was a basketball play or not.”
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Filipowski said he didn’t see Ingram as he got up behind him to run past, though replays showed Ingram putting his hands on Filipowski’s back as he got to his feet and trying to jump over Filipowski’s legs.
“I didn't even know he was back with me,” Filipowski said. “I thought I was the only one left (in the backcourt), but that's pretty much all I can remember.”
UNC's win clinched the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship, the program's first outright title since 2017.