Duke-North Carolina court storm controversy escalates after DA’s rebuke of ‘punched in the face’ accusation

If choking away a big lead to heated rival North Carolina isn’t bad enough, Jon Scheyer is now being accused of lying by a North Carolina district attorney.

Jeff Nieman, the district attorney for Chatman and Orange Counties in North Carolina, called out the Duke head coach after he said staff members got “punched in the face” after Tar Heels fans stormed the court following an upset win in Chapel Hill on Feb. 7.

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“A week has passed, and what seemed likely is now patently obvious. There is zero evidence that anyone from Duke’s basketball program was ‘punched in the face’ at the Smith Center last week. Nor is there any evidence that a staffer was ‘trampled on the floor’ or ‘in a complete brawl’, for that matter,” Nieman tweeted Monday afternoon.

Fans storm the court on Feb. 7 in Chapel Hill. Getty Images

“Some have asked why I’m talking about this. It’s certainly not because of a sports rivalry. That’s no business of the DA’s Office. But I’ve seen firsthand how reckless accusations of violence incite more violence, and that is my business. Someone with the power and influence of a major men’s basketball coach should exercise more discretion before just saying things that can have real-world consequences.”

After a 101-64 home thrashing of Syracuse on Monday night, Scheyer stood by his story.

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“I would like to focus on Syracuse, but I’ll tell you that I know what I saw and I know what happened with our staff after the game, and that’s the bottom line. I’m not going to go and circle back or get into — I don’t know what was said or wasn’t said or what people want to claim, but I know what happened,” Scheyer said. “I’m always going to support our staff in those situations, and again, I could’ve even said more and I’m not going to do that, but we’re moving on. … But I don’t want to go back.”

This Tobacco Road drama dates back to the teams’ first meeting this season when North Carolina…

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Publish date : 2026-02-17 15:51:00

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