Duke's Kyle Filipowski makes a candid confession on Blue Devils' 79-84 defeat to North Carolina: “We could’ve won that game by 10 points on our side”

By Cabral Opiyo

Modified Mar 11, 2024 21:46 GMT

Duke forward Kyle Filipowski registered 23 points, seven rebounds and two assists in the Blue Devils' 84-79 loss to arch-rivals North Carolina, who won the ACC regular season title at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday night.

Despite the Tar Heels completing a clean sweep against the Blue Devils after beating them 93-84 a few weeks ago, the $795,000 NIL-valued Filipowski (as per On3) was defiant during his postgame news conference.

"We lost by 3-5 points, there were a lot of mistakes we could have easily fixed and we could have won that game by 10 points on either side," Filipowski said. "We didn't play our best basketball overall. We're still one of the best teams in the country. Our season's not defined by UNC."

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Kyle Filipowski did not escape the game without controversy, though, as he appeared to trip opposing forward Harrison Ingram as the Tar Heel transitioned into attack.

Despite coming under heavy criticism from college hoops fans, the Duke star denied any intentional wrongdoing after the game while speaking to reporters.

“I’m not really too sure how that whole situation happened to be honest,” Kyle Filipowski said. “I was really just getting up. My foot slipped. I don’t know how I caught him. That’s really all I’ve got.”

What next for Kyle Filipowski and Duke?

The Duke Blue Devils do not have long to feel sorry for themselves after the demoralizing loss as the ACC championship, where they are the No. 2 seed, starts next week.

It is yet to be determined whether Kyle Filipowski will receive any additional punishment for the incident against North Carolina. Blue Devils fans hope that their star player will not be hit with a substantial suspension if he gets punished.

The controversial Filipowski is having a stellar season and has established himself as one of the best big men in the country. He is averaging 16.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists this season.

Coach Jon Scheyer challenged his young team to learn from the experience and be ready for next week's ACC championship:

"You have to learn and understand those possessions. It’s not just a bad shot; it’s a bad shot now you’re down three and they have momentum. You know, I could go through the game. This group has always responded, I think it’s going to be nothing different now.

"But it hurts, it’s disappointing, and we have to get refreshed and regrouped and go into ACC Tournament fresh and understand what we have to do to get better."

The best way for Kyle Filipowski to justify his defiant post-rivalry game comments would be to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels in the ACC championship game, should they get there.