Duke escaped with a big 67–66 win over No. 15 Florida in the ACC/SEC Challenge, grinding it out with defense and an ice-cold dagger from Isaiah Evans. The offense wasn’t pretty, but it was enough for Duke’s third-ranked win. Yet instead of the game itself, most of the postgame chatter now revolves around the officiating.

Analyst Jamie Shaw took to X to ask a straightforward but thought-provoking question: “This was called a Flagrant 1 on Thomas Haugh…Was this the right call?”

Well, refs actually called a technical, not a flagrant, on Haugh. However, fans weren’t upset about just one moment; the whole game felt stacked with calls that worked against them. A handful of misses and strange whistles added up, making it look like Duke was getting a friendly boost at home.

Xaivian Lee was clearly hit on the arm, but instead of a foul, Duke challenged for out-of-bounds possession. Then, Condon was hit with a lane violation that erased Cameron Boozer’s missed free throw, and a pretty obvious goaltend by Duke went uncalled, which ended up mattering on the scoreboard. The ball hit the backboard before being blocked; under last year’s rules, this would have prompted a timeout and a review.

So, Florida’s big men were whistled for several minor fouls that did not appear to apply to Duke’s bigs, one even resulting in a fast break the other way.

Fans aren’t happy, but there is another side to the story

“How can you call for a flagrant review and it turn into a dead ball technical. It’s either a flagrant or not. Not to mention it’s not a flagrant,” one fan said as another chimed in, calling out the officials, saying, “They have got to get this call out of the game, this isn’t a safety issue like the NFL, kid was making a basketball play.”

Well, fans weren’t the only ones feeling this way. After the game, Florida HC Todd Golden also called out the officiating.

“I told our guys, to win in a place like Cameron, you’ve got to outplay Duke by 10 points because you’re not going to get any 50-50 calls. Things aren’t going to go your way, and we certainly had a little bit of that tonight. Again, overall, I thought we played a good game.”

Someone else simply remarked, “Terrible call…,” as another weighed in on how the defending champs could have taken it home, saying, “No they were given free points along with the no call on Goal tending. Florida should’ve won if refs didn’t suck and that’s facts.”  Another fan said, “No it wasn’t. It was called a dead ball technical.”

True, perhaps. But there is another side to this story.

Now, Todd Golden’s complaints aren’t unique; coaches have raised similar concerns for years. For instance, Brad Brownell voiced frustrations a few seasons ago when Jared McCain made three late steals that stopped a Clemson comeback. But as per some fans, we can’t put all the blame on the referees.

What happens is that arenas like Cameron, Allen Field House, or Rupp Arena create an intense environment that affects everyone, including the referees. A missed call against the visiting team can ignite a crowd, and even the most experienced official can feel that pressure. It’s human nature, and no one is immune to it.

As a fan pointed out, “Matching calls for the one on Maliq. Since they called that one, they have to be consistent and call this one”.

Fans here were pointing to the Flagrant 1 Duke’s Brown received in the second half for making contact with the head and neck while attempting to swipe the ball from Alex Condon.

Not to forget that the crowd at Cameron is called “Cameron Crazies” for a reason. That is the home-court advantage for Duke that every preview of the game talked about.

Golden is partially correct that you often have to outperform top teams like Duke, Kansas, or Kentucky on their home court to win. But Florida had multiple opportunities to secure the victory and failed to capitalize. That responsibility falls squarely on the team. Florida left Evans wide open with a one-point lead, and Fland mishandled the ball in a potential game-winning situation.

Even looking at the numbers, the margin wasn’t overwhelming: Duke had only a two-foul advantage, and they attempted just four more free throws than Florida.

So, even though fans are clearly frustrated with the ruling, the game’s result really came down to how the Duke star performed in those last few seconds.