Duke’s Kyle Filipowski starts in rout of Louisville after court-storming incident

By ADAM ZAGORIA

Duke sophomore big man Kyle Filipowski started Wednesday night against Louisville at Cameron Indoor Stadium following the court-storming incident on Saturday at Wake Forest.

ZAGSBLOG first reported earlier Wednesday that Filipowski was expected to play.

The 7-foot big man went for 9 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists in 29 minutes in an 84-59 rout for the No. 10 Blue Devils. Jeremy Roach led all scorers with 19 points for Duke, which secured a double-bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament. Mark Mitchell added 17 points and Jared McCain 14.

Filipowski was helped off the floor by his teammates and Duke staff after Wake Forest’s 83-79 home win over the then-No. 8 Blue Devils on Saturday. Filipowski, averaging 16.9 points and 8.2 rebounds, sustained a sprained ankle during the court storm.

Kyle Filipowski is expected to play tonight for @DukeMBB , per source

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) February 28, 2024

The incident — following one involving Iowa star Caitlin Clark last month — sparked a national debate about court storms and what, if anything, could be done to to stop or curtail them.

“Flip sprains his ankle, when are going to ban court storming?” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said following the Wake game. “Like when are going to ban that? How many times does a player have to get into something where they get punched, or they get pushed or they get taunted in their face. It’s a dangerous thing.”

Filipowski’s was the latest court-storming incident after Clark, the Iowa superstar, was shaken up but not injured after a fan who was staring at her phone collided with her while storming the court on Jan. 21 at Ohio State.

Before the #CollegeBasketball action gets underway tonight GREAT preview, etc. from @AdamZagoria & Chris Dobbertean of @SBNBracketology for mid-week games on @CBBCoast2Coast : #RockChalk #UConn #CourtStorming #Duke

🎧🏀🔥 Full POD : https://t.co/KlCnkLWXzb

— TJ Rives (@BucSidelineGuy) February 27, 2024

Alabama AD Greg Byrne suggested that schools that storm the court should forfeit games.

“Kids aren’t going to be in the stands saying “Oh, I don’t want to do this because the school is gonna get fined $200,000,” Byrne said. “That doesn’t enter their mindset. But if they knew the game that they just had been a part of, celebrated a great win that led to that, if they knew that they were going to lose that game immediately, that would stop them.”

ESPN’s Jay Bilas suggested court stormers could be cited or arrested.

“If they wanted to stop it, they could stop it tomorrow,” Bilas said on Monday’s episode of First Take. “… One time, all you have to do is once they’re on the court, don’t let them off. Just say, ‘You’re all detained,’ and give them all citations or arrest them if you want to. And then court stormings will stop the next day. There’s no accountability for this. The fans feel like it’s an entitlement, and the universities like it, and the truth is, [the media] like it.”

Other, such as college basketball podcaster TJ Rives, have suggested that a team could lose a home game the following season if their fans storm the court.

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