Dan Hurley Had To Be Held Back From Referees During UConn's Upset Loss Tuesday
The 2024-25 season hasn't been too kind to the UConn Huskies so far. The two-time defending champions have suffered back-to-back losses this week at the Maui Invitational.
Before the start of this week, UConn won 47 of its last 50 games. On Monday, Memphis defeated UConn 99-97 thanks to a 26-point performance from Tyrese Hunter. It seemed like Dan Hurley's squad was going to bounce back this Tuesday against Colorado, but instead things went terribly wrong down the stretch.
UConn had a 40-32 lead over Colorado at the end of the first half. The Buffaloes erased that deficit and took a one-point lead over the Huskies with a little over nine seconds remaining because of a tough runner from Andrej Jakimovski.
Before Jakimovski even made that shot, the officials missed an over-the-back foul on Colorado. As you'd expect, that didn't sit well with Hurley.
ESPN's camera crew caught Hurley being held back by UConn's staff at the Maui Invitational. It was a rough look for the two-time national champion.
Hurley made sure to rip the officials during his postgame media availability this Tuesday.
"It just speaks to how these last two days have gone for us, that yesterday the biggest play of the game was an over-the-back that was called against us, and then today it was more egregious because the kid Baskin pulled Liam's arm down," Hurley said. "I saw the replay of it. Obviously it's ironic, but that's not why — our defense has been just so dreadful, just so dreadful out here."
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - APRIL 08: Head coach Dan Hurley of the Connecticut Huskies argues with officials in the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament National Championship game at State Farm Stadium on April 08, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
UConn will be back in action later this week. We'll see what the champions are made of after a rough 4-2 start to the season.
Hopefully for Hurley's sake, he's not too mad about the officiating on Thursday.
