The No. 5 Duke Blue Devils fell 64-63 on the road against the Virginia Tech Hokies Monday thanks to an amazing late-game sequence, but what perhaps stood out even more was what Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams did late in the game.
With the Hokies trailing 60-56 with just over three minutes left, controversial Duke star Grayson Allen was sent to the line on a hotly-disputed call. Fans started chanting “Bullshit, bullshit,” and then Williams did something unusual, walking over to the scorer’s table, grabbing a microphone and telling fans to settle down:
“Quit cussing. Quit cussing. Don’t throw anything on the floor, regardless of what’s happening.”
The crowd cheered in response, and they had a whole lot more to cheer about later on, as Virginia Tech completed the comeback. With 25.6 seconds left and Duke up 63-62, the Blue Devils’ Trevon Duval missed the first foul shot of a 1-and-1 situation. That gave the Hokies the ball back, and they won thanks to this impressive late-game passing sequence, ending with an air ball from Nickeil Alexander-Walker that Chris Clarke tipped in.
Duke tried to respond, but Allen missed his shot, and while Marvin Bagley III tipped it in, that was after the horn sounded.
It’s not every day a coach tells his own fans to stop swearing at referees, but the Virginia Tech fans are probably pretty happy with the outcome here. This marked the Hokies’ third-straight win against an AP Top 5 opponent, the first time they’d done that since 2006-07. Being asked to stop the “bullshit” chant was probably a small price to pay for that.
[Clippit]
