CLEMSON, S.C. — Mike Krzyzewski didn’t enter Thursday’s postgame press conference upset but relieved that one of his players left the Littlejohn Coliseum without a serious injury.
Clemson senior guard David Collins undercut Duke’s Wendell Moore on a fast-break dunk with 3:01 left in the first half, sending the junior forward flying dangerously through the air while luckily avoiding a head-to-floor collision.
Moore, who crashed to the ground awkwardly on his right hip and side, quickly sprang to his feet while officials called an intentional foul on Collins. An irate Coach K, 74, raced from the bench to the opponent’s baseline to check on Moore.
“He didn’t see himself. We saw him,” Krzyzewski said of Moore. “He was parallel to the ground eight feet up in the air. That was one of the most dangerous plays I’ve ever seen, and I’m not knocking Collins, but I’ve never seen a player look like that before.”
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Collins was called for a flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game. Before he left the court, Clemson coach Brad Brownell brought his player over to Krzyzewski and the two exchanged a few words and embraced before Collins left the court.
After his ejection, Collins took to Instagram and offered his side of the story, saying he was going too fast to stop and that he wished Moore a healthy rest of his season.
Krzyzewski, coaching in his final regular-season game at Littlejohn Coliseum called Brownell a “damn good coach and a good guy” after Thursday’s win and said he was relieved the situation did not escalate after the hard foul.
“The fact that he brought (him over) and we had some interaction. I think that was really good,” Coach K said. “I told Brad I just wanted to move on. Wendell is good, at least I hope he’s good. We’ll see how he feels after the plane ride, but it’s best to move on.”
The No. 6 Blue Devils (20-4, 10-3) defeated Clemson, 82-64, and will play their fourth game in eight days Saturday when they travel to Boston College. Duke defeated rival North Carolina by 20 points last weekend but fell to Virginia, 69-68, at Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday.
Duke freshman Trevor Keels tied his career-high with 25 points in the win over Clemson, scoring 23 points in the second half.
David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the USA Today Network covering NC State and Duke athletics. Follow him on Twitter at @daveth89.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: David Collins of Clemson flagrant foul on Wendell Moore Jr. of Duke