Duke 'Crazies' Throw Drinks, Gum Balls At North Carolina Players Following Loss

The most storied rivalry in all college basketball played out once again on Saturday night, as Duke and North Carolina faced-off for the ACC regular season title, in what could be the final time this season. 

To say that this season for Duke has been a tad crazy would probably be an understatement. Just two weeks ago, after a loss to Wake Forest that led to fans storming the court, Kyle Fillipowski was ‘injured’ after running into a fan following the loss. This led to an overblown conversation on how to ban students from rushing the court after a win, which has since died in the news cycle. 

On Saturday night, North Carolina entered a hostile environment on a day that Duke was honoring its seniors. The stakes were high in-terms of the ACC regular season race, as we head into the conference tournament next week. So, It's easy to see why Duke fans were fired up more than usual, besides the fact that the student section is known for being the ‘Crazies’. 

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 09: The Cameron Crazies taunt RJ Davis #4 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half of the game against the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 09, 2024 in Durham, North Carolina.The Tar Heels won 84-79. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

For 40 minutes inside the confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium, North Carolina players had to not only deal with the Blue Devils on the court, but also the endless chants from the student section. It was Cormac Ryan who led the TarHeels with a monster night, scoring a season-high 31 points in the 84-79 win over No.9 ranked Duke to win the ACC regular season title. 

So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that North Carolina players were excited when the clock hit zero, rushing out onto the court to celebrate the win, but also give a little bit of that taunting back to the Duke student section. This is when things took a turn, leading to students throwing drinks, cups and even a gumball at North Carolina players. 

As you can tell by the video, the situation escalated enough that media members sitting on press row, which is right off the court, to take their computers and get the heck out of dodge. Now, we've seen incidents like this in the past, from the football field to the basketball court. We've seen Lane Kiffin have a golf ball thrown in his direction while on the field at Neyland Stadium, but there was one object thrown that i don't think even the players could've seen coming. 

A Gum Ball. 

"I got hit with water, ice, i got hit with a gumball Who has a gumball?" Harrison Ingram jokingly recounted after the game. 

Duke's Kyle Fillipowski Trips North Carolina's Harrison Ingram, 

Things escalated a bit during the game when Kyle Fillipowski was seen tripping Harrson Ingram, which infuriated North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis, who was asking the officials to look at the monitor. Referees decided not to review the trip, and the game was further intensified from that moment on. 

Even though Duke kept things within reach for most of the second half, North Carolina didn't flinch down the stretch, leaving Durham with an ACC title. 

As for the ‘Cameron Crazies’, this was just a dumb look, for what is a hated, but respected rivalry. The next time these two teams could meet will be next week in Greensboro, North Carolina at the conference tournament. 

Let's just hope Duke students leave the gumballs at home, just in case the TarHeels grab another win and have something to say following the game.