The ACC has fined UNC $50,000 after fans rushed the floor twice during the Tar Heels’ 71-68 win against No. 4 Duke at the Smith Center Saturday night.

“The conference’s event security policy is designed to protect the safety and well-being of all student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans,” the league said in an official release Sunday evening.

UNC’s $50,000 fine is an accordance with league policy for a school’s first offense. The fine will be directed to the ACC’s Weaver-James-Corrigan-Swofford Postgraduate Scholarship Fund, which benefits athletes across the league pursuing graduate degrees.

UNC released a statement accepting the fine less than 30 minutes after the ACC’s official notice went out. However, the school asserted it reviewed video of the incident and found “we followed our protocols to get Duke’s players and bench personnel and the game officials off the floor safely.”

“We will continue to review our protocols to provide the highest measures of safety in the event fans rush the court,” the statement read. “We consider this matter closed and look forward to the rest of the season.”

At the end of the game Saturday, fans initially rushed the floor after Seth Trimble made what appeared to be a buzzer-beating three-pointer. Time expired on the official game clock, prompting fans to storm the court. However, an official review confirmed there were still 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock, and all fans had to leave the floor so the remainder of the game could be played. Afterward, following the official conclusion of the game, fans rushed the floor again.

In the mayhem, several UNC fans crowded around the Duke players and coaches, with at least one fan appearing to throw a bottle at the team. In his postgame press conference, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said he was unhappy with UNC’s safety protocols.

“It’s hard to talk about the game when I was most concerned for the safety of our players after the game,” Scheyer said. “I’ve got staff members that got punched in the face. My family pushing people away trying to not get trampled. That’s not what this game is about… that was a scary ending.”

After both Scheyer and UNC head coach Hubert Davis had given postgame comments, UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham walked to the podium to deliver an official apology for the postgame chaos. Cunningham also said he had personally apologized to Scheyer.

“It’s really tough. I feel for our event staff,” said Cunningham. “I apologized to Coach [Scheyer], his family. And obviously, if somebody got injured, that’s really disappointing. We’ll do the best we can to make sure that doesn’t happen. My apologies to Duke for that.”

Cunningham added the Duke team, particularly star Cameron Boozer, was a “total class act.”

“Ton of credit for the way their players handled it,” Cunningham said.

With so many fans on the court following the game, the Blue Devils had to use an alternate tunnel to access the visiting locker room. Normally, the visiting team will exit the court via the tunnel across from the Carolina bench. On Saturday night, Duke exited using the tunnel next to the UNC bench, which is the same tunnel the Tar Heels use to enter and exit the court.

On Monday morning, Davis confirmed he had been in communication with Scheyer following the game, but declined to go into specifics about the conversation. When questioned about whether the rules surrounding court storming should be altered, Davis deferred to Cunningham’s comments Saturday.

 

Featured image via Todd Melet

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