Duke comes unglued, coughs up lead at Louisville after non-ejection, iffy charging call
Duke star sophomore guard Grayson Allen and Louisville second-year forward Jaylen Johnson had several run-ins on Saturday afternoon during the Cardinals' heated 71-64 victory.
The Blue Devils were up 47-37 with less than 13 minutes to go in the second half when Allen was struck with an elbow from Johnson as the two dove to the floor for a loose ball. On the replay, Johnson's elbow was seen making contact with Allen's face at the end of the scuffle -- with Johnson immediately jawing at the Duke guard while being pulled back by teammates as Allen covered his face in pain.
The officials reviewed the play on the monitor and decided not to eject Johnson. Instead, he was assessed a contact dead-ball technical foul, which means (according to Rule 4, Section 15, Art. 3) the officials deemed the contact unacceptable, but it had not reach the level of a flagrant 2.
Jaylen Johnson talks about the technical foul he picked up while fighting for a loose ball with Grayson Allen. pic.twitter.com/2lFrT5rGJ0
— Louisville Cardinal (@TheCardSports) February 20, 2016
The non-ejection played a crucial part later in the game. After blowing a double-digit lead, the Blue Devils were attempting to stage a late-game comeback. With 3:56 left in the game, and Louisville up 65-59, Allen fouled out on a questionable offensive foul call.
Who drew the charge? Jaylen Johnson.
To make matters worse, Allen was hit with a technical foul for objecting to the call (forward to 1:05 mark of clip below).
Johnson, a 50 percent free-throw shooter, would later ice the game with a pair of freebies. He finished with six points and three rebounds in 18 minutes, as Allen posted a game-high 29 points.
This was the second physical incident Allen has had with a Louisville player this season. In the team's first meeting several weeks ago, Allen was given a flagrant 1 foul for tripping Raymond Spalding.
