Cory Knowlton/USA Today Sports/Reuters
Wake Forest Demon Deacons students storm the court after their team beat the Duke Blue Devils.
CNN
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Duke University men's basketball star Kyle Filipowski was injured Saturday when Wake Forest fans stormed a court in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the first player-fan conflict on a college court in more than a month. This was the second case.
Fans rushed onto the court as the buzzer sounded to celebrate the Demon Deacons' come-from-behind 83-79 victory over the No. 8 Blue Devils. The sophomore center appeared to collide with a fan on his way to the locker room and required assistance. Then he goes off the court.
After the game, Duke head coach John Scheyer said Filipowski “sprained his ankle” and called for a ban on court assaults.
“When are we going to ban assaults on courtrooms?” said Scheier, who is in his second year leading the Blue Devils, replacing basketball Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski.
The coach said he was disappointed that his team lost, but he was more concerned about the health of his players.
“How many times is a player going to get punched, pushed, or yelled at in the face? That's dangerous,” he added.
Scheyer said the incident should not detract from Wake Forest's play and cited recent courtroom attacks as a reason for the proposed ban.
“Caitlin Clark, look around the country, things happen,” Shier said. “So, Flip, I don't know what his position will be.”
Clark, a senior guard at the University of Iowa who recently became NCAA women's basketball's all-time leading scorer, clashed with a fan on the court in Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 21 after her team's loss to Ohio State. .
ESPN video showed Clark running across the court as fans crashed into each other, air racing across the court, and being hit by a fan who appeared to be holding a cell phone. .
“When I was playing, you stormed onto the court for at least 10 seconds,” Scheyer said. “Now they don't even hit the buzzer and they're running all over the floor. This has happened to us multiple times this year. … I don't want this to take any away from Wake (Forest). They won it. and deserved to win.”
Cory Knowlton/USA Today Sports/Reuters
Duke Blue Devils center Kyle Filipovski makes a 3-point shot against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes agreed with calls to ban the dangerous practice of court raiding.
“I didn't know what happened at the end. I hope he's okay,” Forbes told reporters after the game. “I don't like storming the courtroom. Never. I've been a part of that before as a coach as well. It just doesn't feel safe.”
Filipovski, who finished the game with a team-high 17 points, told WFMY News after the game that he felt the incident was “personal.”
“I felt a lot of shocks in my body, and this time was the worst of them,” Filipovsky said.
“It felt completely personal. It was certainly intentional,” he added. “There's no reason for them to see a big guy like me trying to get off the court, and there's no way they can work around me. There's no excuse for that.”
CNN has reached out to Duke, Wake Forest and the Atlantic Coast Conference for comment.
The Blue Devils fell to 21-6 on the season, while the Demon Deacons improved to 18-9.
Duke is next scheduled to play Louisville at home on Wednesday.
CNN's Homero de la Fuente, Kevin Dotson, Issy Ronald and Ashley R. Williams contributed to this report.
