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Fans storm court twice after Seth Trimble's heroic 3 for UNC vs. Duke (1:12)
After Seth Trimble drains a go-ahead triple for UNC in final second, the fans storm the court but have to quickly get off the court before the Tar Heels can put away Duke. (1:12)
The ACC fined North Carolina $50,000 on Sunday, the result of the university violating "the league's event security policy" at the end of a chaotic win over rival Duke a night earlier in Chapel Hill.
The 14th-ranked Tar Heels stunned the fourth-ranked Blue Devils 71-68 on Seth Trimble's 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left, a shot that originally appeared to come as time expired and had jubilant fans rushing the court in a chaotic celebration. Officials reviewed the play and determined time was left, so the fans had to be cleared for Duke to get one final play before they stormed the court again when the clock officially hit zero.
The fan behavior was at the front of Duke coach Jon Scheyer's mind after the game. He said he had staff members who "got punched in the face" as fans stormed the court. Duke spokesman Kyle Serba said one person tied to the program had been injured but offered no additional details, citing the individual's privacy.
UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham publicly apologized later Saturday night.
"When they rushed the court, a number of people got knocked over," Cunningham said. "But then we had to clear the court again. So, when we normally have something like just rushing the court and the game is over, we do have a line by the benches to get people off safely.
"Obviously, if somebody got injured, that's just really, really disappointing. We'll do the best we can to make sure that doesn't happen, but again, my apologies to Duke for that."
The ACC said the $50,000 was incurred because it was UNC's first offense. It will go toward a conference scholarship fund for student-athletes.
In a statement after the fine was announced, UNC said it now considers the matter closed.
"We accept the ACC's fine for having unauthorized people on the court before Duke and the officials could completely clear the floor on Saturday," the school said. "The video we have confirms we followed our protocols to get Duke's players and bench personnel and the game officials off the floor safely. We will continue to review our protocols to provide the highest measures of safety in the event fans rush the court."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
