Jon Scheyer claims staff members punched in face during UNC premature court storm

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer was not pleased with North Carolina fans’ decision to storm the court following the Tar Heels 71-68 victory Saturday night. He claimed that a few of his staff members were ‘punched in the face’ during the gathering at the middle of mid-court.

“For me, it’s hard to talk about the game when I was most concerned for the safety of our players after the game,” Scheyer said. “I don’t want to make it about that, because Carolina played a great game to win. That’s a heartbreaking loss for our team.

“You know, I got staff members that got punched in the face. My family had people pushing away, trying to not get trampled. That’s not what this game is about. You give them all the credit in the world. It’s not about the game, but obviously that was a scary ending that this rivalry is not about.”

Jon Scheyer was heated postgame:

"It's hard to talk about the game when I was most concerned for the safety of our players. I don't wanna make it about that, but… I got staff members that got punched in the face… That's not what this game is about. That was a scary ending." pic.twitter.com/GG9wvRoke7

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 8, 2026

The game, which never disappoints, was a tale of two halves. Duke dominated the first half, outscoring North Carolina 41-29 on its own home court. The Tar Heels bounced back strong, however, outscoring the Blue Devils 42-27 in the second half. North Carolina trailed its rival 68-62 with 2:51 remaining, but went on a 9-0 run to finish the game strong.

Seth Trimble made a go-ahead corner three-pointer to propel the Tar Heels ahead for the first time in the game with .4 remaining, which led Carolina fans to storm the court. They were eventually cleared, and re-stormed the court after the final buzzer. Scheyer continued postgame, lambasting the fans for not allowing his team to reach safety.

“We put our players in a position where they’re face-to-face with people who can do anything at any time,” Scheyer said. “It just takes one reaction. I thought, even today, I had to push people away to protect our players. I’m all for court storming, trust me. They won. They should celebrate. If they want to celebrate, court storm. But just let us get our guys off safely. That’s it. That’s where I’m at with that.”

With the win, North Carolina snapped its three-game losing streak to Duke. It has now won five consecutive games and will very likely jump back into the Top 25 Rankings next week. Duke loses its second game of the season and its first at the Dean Smith Center since Feb 3, 2024.