Duke basketball chance at victory taken away against Virginia

The Duke basketball team had its chance at victory stolen by the officiating crew. 

Winning on the road is very difficult in college basketball and the task has felt nearly impossible for the Duke basketball team this season.

Following a 23-point drubbing on the road against No. 19 Miami on Monday, the Blue Devils wrapped up its two-game road trip against No. 8 Virginia with a chance to rise up the standings in the ACC.

Instead, the officiating crew of Lee Cassell, Jeffery Anderson, and Tim Clougherty cost Duke a chance at an improbable comeback victory.

Dariq Whitehead, making his return from a four game absence, gave the Blue Devils a 51-46 lead with 9:13 to play in a remarkable three minute stretch in the second half.

However, questionable lineup combinations from Jon Scheyer forced Duke to not make a field goal for nearly eight minutes before Jeremy Roach brought the Blue Devils back within three, 58-55, with 1:33 remaining.

Jacob Grandison would tie the game on the following possession with a 3-pointer and the Duke defense buckled down to get another stop and gave itself a chance to win the game with 25.4 seconds left.

Scheyer would draw up Kyle Filipowski, who was in the midst of his worst game as a Blue Devil, driving to the basket in the final seconds and the play worked as Filipowski was fouled before the game clock had expired.

The officials went to the scorers table to confirm if the foul was before time had run out and how much time would be put back on the clock.

Television replays clearly showed that the Duke freshman was fouled with 0.2 seconds left and should be going to the free throw line to try and seal with victory for the Blue Devils.

Instead, the crew somehow determined the foul came after time had expired and sent the game to overtime.

Virginia (19-4, 11-3 ACC) would outscore Duke 11-4 in the extra five minutes, winning 69-62.

Duke basketball freshmen struggle in loss

The trio of Kyle Filipowski, Mark Mitchell, and Dereck Lively struggled tremendously in the loss combining for five points on 1-of-10 shooting.

Filipowski did not make a shot in the game, missing all six of his field goals and two free throws.

Lively’s only points came at the free throw line while logging just 11 minutes after battling foul trouble throughout the game and failing to register a blocked shot.

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It was the play of Tyrese Proctor, Jeremy Roach, Jacob Grandison, and Dariq Whitehead that kept the Blue Devils (17-8, 8-6 ACC) afloat with 51 of the team’s victory 62 points.

Duke, riding a two game losing streak, will return home to face struggling Notre Dame (10-15, 2-12 ACC) on Tuesday night (7:00p.m ET, ESPN) as four of the final six games in the regular season will be inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.