Grayson Allen Smacked in Face; Duke Loses

There you can see a couple of players engaged in one of those sneaky little battles that happen in basketball games. There’s a loose ball, some shoving, some intentional elbow-locking made to look accidental and, ultimately, a literal slap in the face for college basketball’s dunce of the year, Duke guard Grayson Allen, by the hand of Louisville’s Donovan Mitchell.

Louisville won the game 78-69, handing Duke its third loss in the last five games. If all goes as it usually does, Duke will soon hold a players-only meeting, and come out the other side talking about how the leaders on the team really stepped up.

Allen scored 23 points on 11 shots in 36 minutes, but had six of Duke’s 18 turnovers.

Allen, naturally, was hounded by fans for all his tripping incidents, and there was another one on Saturday, though this one appeared unintentional.