North Carolina basketball picked up a thrilling win over rival Duke on Saturday, Feb. 7, but will feel its pockets getting lighter as a result.
The Atlantic Coast Conference announced on Sunday, Feb. 8, that it was fining the Tar Heels $50,000 for fans storming the court at Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, following Seth Trimble’s game-winning shot.
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“The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that the University of North Carolina has been fined for violation of the league’s event security policy at the conclusion of its men’s basketball game versus Duke University on February 7,” the league wrote in a news release.
“The conference’s event security policy is designed to protect the safety and well-being of all student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans.”
The fine is $50,000 for UNC, as it was the first offense for the program. The penalty increases to $100,000 for a second offense and is $200,000 for each subsequent offense within two years.
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All fines for storming the court or rushing the field that are collected under the policy are directed to the Weaver-James-Corrigan-Swofford Postgraduate Scholarship Fund, which benefits ACC student-athletes pursuing graduate education.
In addition to the court storming, following the game, Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer alleged that members of his staff “got punched in the face.”
“It’s hard to talk about the game when I was most concerned for the safety of our players,” Scheyer said. “I don’t wanna make it about that, but … I got staff members that got punched in the face … That’s not what this game is about. That was a scary ending.”
The University of North Carolina did not respond to USA TODAY Sports’ request for comment on the claim from Scheyer.
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Fans actually stormed the court on two separate occasions. Fans first rushed the court following Timble’s 3-pointer, but the clock still showed 0.4 seconds remaining in the game. They rushed the court once again after the clock officially hit triple zeroes, however, it was treated as one incident by the conference.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UNC basketball fined by ACC for fans storming court after Duke win
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