Duke ‘Cameron Crazies’ throw items at UNC players after Blue Devil loss

DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN/AP) — With a heated UNC-Duke bitter rivalry nearly boiling over Saturday night, Blue Devil fans threw liquid and empty plastic bottles at Tar Heel players while they taunted the so-called “Cameron Crazies.” The fan response — along with a Duke player tripping Harrison Ingram — came just weeks after Duke player Kyle Filipowski was jostled by Wake Forest fans during an end-of-game court-storming.

UNC-Chapel Hill managed to hold off Duke’s comeback at Cameron Indoor Stadium with Cormac Ryan clinching two free throws with 4.7 seconds left for the Tar Heels, propelling UNC to a second win over the Blue Devils this season — 84-79 on Saturday night.

Also, during the tense game, Blue Devil Filipowski tripped UNC’s Harrison Ingram, with the Tar Heel player ending up on the floor.

The incident happened after Duke’s star big man contested Ingram’s shot at the six-minute mark of the first half. As Ingram got up to run back on defense, Filipowski kicked up his right leg and tripped Ingram back down to the hardwood near midcourt.

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.

At the next timeout, Ingram went over to plead his case with the referee that Filipowski tripped him. Afterward, Filipowski denied the trip was intentional.

Retired Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski was in the crowd — making a rare courtside appearance for the game.

The Duke fans showed their displeasure with the Tar Heels later.

Ryan, who scored a season-high 31 points, including a huge 3-pointer with 1:38 left, made sure to let Duke’s famous “Cameron Crazies” hear from him with some excited reactions.

After Ryan hit the last-second free throws and the game clock expired, Ryan and several UNC players waved goodbye to the fans in a taunting farewell and gathered near the center court press-row table.

The group of UNC players stuck together and moved as a group around the court yelling and waving at the “Crazies.”

Multiple Duke fans responded by throwing liquid and empty plastic bottles at them, leaving the court a slick mess near that sideline.

Ryan made 8 of 12 shots and 6 of 8 3s to help UNC turn away push after push from its fierce rival.

Harrison Ingram added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who shot 50% for the game.

UNC ran out to a 15-point lead with a dominant start, then stayed in control all night.

Kyle Filipowski had 23 points to lead the Blue Devils (24-7, 15-5). Duke got as close as a single point early in the second half but never completely recovered from a Ryan-led flurry out of the gate.

The Tar Heels led 40-31 at halftime, and Duke made its best sustained push to that point to climb within 43-42 on Jeremy Roach’s 3-pointer at the 16:59 mark.

After the loss — and while Duke fans were still tossing items and water and UNC players — Duke head coach Jon Scheyer walked directly over to part of the student section and apologized for falling to the Tar Heels.

“I’m sorry,” he told them. “We’re going to keep going, we’re going to get this right.”

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