Grayson Allen vs NC State

Duke Blue Devil and Ted Cruz doppelganger Grayson Allen might not be tripping anyone these days, but he’s still in the middle of controversial action.

During Monday’s game between Duke and in-state rival NC State, Allen was guarding a Wolfpack player who called a timeout. Allen then reached in for the ball, and took an elbow as a result, leading to him rather theatrically falling backwards. While no fouls were called on the play, and this wasn’t necessarily all on Allen, it’s just another incident we can add to his record, and it produced quite the reaction from a couple of Wolfpack players:

There were no fouls called , but there may be plenty of noise surrounding this incident.

In case you’re wondering why an opponent would go after Allen, let’s catch you up. Allen got caught tripping opposing players multiple times. This led to Mike Krzyzewski to the weak, indefinite suspension of Allen. Then, we found out that suspension was only for one game.

Look, this is the reality Allen has created. Players are mad at him for his antics. Do you blame them? I certainly don’t. While I’m sure the Dukies will come out and spin this as Allen having a target on his back, it’s a much-deserved target. He should just be thankful this incident was just him getting tangled up. Some more angry opponents might not be so tame.

And in all of this, the Blue Devils will benefit because no one will be talking about the fact Duke lost to NC State at home for the first time in 22 years. Here’s that finish, including a Duke turnover and a Wolfpack dunk after the final buzzer:

Despite that ending, Allen still seems likely to be the main story coming out of this one.

[For The Win]

About Ryan Williamson

Ryan is a recent graduate of the University of Missouri and has recently returned to his Minnesota roots. He previously has worked for the Columbia Missourian, KFAN radio in Minneapolis and BringMeTheNews.com. Feel free to email me at rwilliamson29 AT Gmail dot com.