A crowd packed inside John Paul Jones Arena on Monday hoping to see Virginia men’s basketball upset No. 3 Duke was down at least one spectator for much of the night.
With 5:16 remaining in the first half, and with the Blue Devils out to a comfortable 34-22 lead, referee Roger Ayers blew play dead and ejected a Cavaliers fan.
After the ejection, the ESPN cameras cut to an older, bespectacled man in professorial-looking attire — a green sweater over a white turtleneck — who was walking up the stairs to leave the arena. A replay showed him angrily pointing and yelling in the direction of the court. Afterwards, the man high-fived a fellow Virginia fan on his walk up and shook hands with another before making his way out.
ESPN’s broadcast team said he had come down from his seat to say something to Ayers, which prompted the early dismissal. It’s unclear what, exactly, he said to necessitate the unusual step of a referee booting a fan.
For the man who drew Ayers’ ire, leaving the game before the final media timeout of the first half may not have been the worst thing. Duke led by 14 at halftime and stretched its advantage to 25 in the opening six minutes of the second half.
It has been a difficult season for Virginia, which lost longtime coach Tony Bennett to an unexpectedly early retirement only about two weeks before its first game. Under interim head coach Ron Sanchez, the Cavaliers were 13-12 overall and 6-8 in the ACC entering Monday’s matchup against Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils.
Duke went on to win the game, 80-62.
