Duke basketball's "Cameron Crazies" student section has proved multiple times over the years why its nickname is well deserved. While their collective buffoonery is usually good-natured, these diehard Duke fans took it too far Saturday night.
After the final buzzer sounded on North Carolina's 84-79 defeat over Duke — which gave it sole possession of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title — Tar Heels players approached the Cameron Crazies to taunt the notoriously chaotic fan base.
Brief snippet of the postgame scene here. pic.twitter.com/q9FejQoV59
— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) March 10, 2024
This prompted Duke students to throw water bottles and other liquids at the UNC players in an ugly scene.
Yet, considering that nobody was injured during the back-and-forth, perhaps we can chalk it up to college kids getting too emotional about the outcome of a historically intense rivalry.
In fact, one video angle of the taunting and ensuing bottle throwing has a hilarious ending. It shows Duke coach Jon Scheyer approaching and apologizing to the Cameron Crazies for the loss, then proceeding to walk down the student section high-fiving students and thanking them — all while the bottle throwing was underway.
Duke fans throwing water bottles at UNC while Jon Scheyer apologizes for losing
pic.twitter.com/vtSQPK5RaU— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) March 10, 2024
The game itself had its fair share of cheap moments — most notably when Duke star center Kyle Filipowski stuck his leg out to trip Harrison Ingram as he ran down the court.
This dirty play didn't ultimately affect the game's outcome, as North Carolina managed to exit Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium unscathed on Saturday with the ACC regular season title in tow.
However, this might not be the last time we see Duke and UNC square off. The ACC Tournament is set to start Tuesday, with both UNC and Duke earning byes until the quarterfinals on Thursday. That's in addition to the NCAA Tournament, which will take place later this month.
Regardless of whether these bitter foes face off once more this season, Duke going 0-2 against UNC is never a good look.
Yet, considering the historic 2025 recruiting class that Duke is receiving, we wouldn't be surprised to see the Cameron Crazies having a lot more to cheer about next season.
