Whenever North Carolina and Duke face off, we already know there's going to be plenty of intrigue and drama. This was of course once again the case on Saturday night in Chapel Hill, as North Carolina stunned No. 4 Duke in unreal fashion.
UNC vs. Miami odds before tip-off have the Tar Heels on upset alert
However, as soon as the final whistle went off, things appeared to turn ugly, with Jon Scheyer claiming that one of his staff members was assaulted by a UNC fan, getting punched in the face. It took away from an epic win the Tar Heels had just posted.
With that said, it looks like Scheyer may have jumped the gun there a bit. In case you missed it on Monday, the Duke head coach appeared to walk things back a bit, essentially saying he wasn't 100 percent sure what happened. If that's indeed the case, then he no question owes the UNC faithful and coach Hubert Davis an apology over how he handled things right after the game.
Will we get actual video evidence of a Duke staff member getting "punched," as Jon Scheyer said in his postgame, or a retraction of that verbiage?
— Ross Martin (@RossMartinNC) February 9, 2026
"Trampled" is different from "punched" --- "punched" is assault! Dangerous and malicious!
Prayers up for all involved! Safety first https://t.co/F7B2tOBHha
Jon Scheyer is trying to walk back his accusations against UNC basketball fans
"After the game, what happened was I came back in the locker room and I see he's got a bloody lip and he's disheveled, and he didn't know what happened. He got trampled on the floor," Scheyer said via ESPN. "That was my main concern after the game. He's doing better. He's fine, ready to move on."
While Scheyer did add that he was ready to give UNC all the credit they deserve for posting such a huge rivalry win, it felt like the damage was done. Throughout the weekend, North Carolina supporters were getting ripped for going after Duke in such a way that a staffer ended up getting sucker punched in the face.
Had that actually happened, whoever did such a thing would no question have to be banned for life from watching another game at the Smith Center. At the end of the day, though, it looks like Scheyer didn't see what actually happened and he misspoke instead of getting the facts straight.
All of this nonsense indeed took away from North Carolina posting a comeback win that's going to be remembered for quite some time. Both teams are ready to move on and focus on their next games, but this really isn't a great look at all for Scheyer and Duke. He's got to know better than to do this.