Duke freshman Kyle Filipowski took an accidental punch to the throat from Virginia Tech’s MJ Collins as Collins celebrated an eventual game-winning jumper with 13.6 left in Monday night’s game.
Collins’ celebratory fist pump connected with Filipowski, who doubled over in surprise pain before officials stopped the game for an injury timeout.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Filipowski got hit so hard that he was throwing up in the huddle after the play. He remained in the game.
“He was full-on throwing up and he wasn’t about to be out for a second,” Scheyer told the media after the loss. “He’s a big-time warrior, man.”
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The play was reviewed and no call was made. According to NCAA rules, a “flagrant 1 foul is a result of excessive contact that in nature is categorized as unnecessary or avoidable.” It was deemed incidental because the action was celebratory.
A flagrant 1 call would’ve given Filipowski two free throws before giving the ball back to Virginia Tech with Duke trailing 77-75. The Hokies, instead, held on for a 78-75 win.
Duke (14-6, 4-4 ACC) dropped to 1-4 on the road this season, and to make matters worse, could be without freshman Dariq Whitehead for the immediate future.
Whitehead left Monday’s game with 17:09 left in the second half with a lower leg injury and never returned. He watched the final seconds of the game from behind the bench on crutches.
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Whitehead, who had foot surgery in August, got his feet tangled with Virginia Tech’s Justyn Mutts on the perimeter while fighting for a loose ball on defense and instantly went down in pain, clutching the lower leg area and ankle. He was able to hobble off the court before collapsing to the floor near the Duke bench.
Scheyer said postgame that he had yet to speak to the medical team about the severity of the injury.
