Dan Hurley clears air on interaction with ref in UConn’s win vs Duke

Connecticut coach Dan Hurley went viral shortly after Braylon Mullins’ heroic game-winning 3-pointer against Duke in the Elite Eight for appearing to headbutt official Roger Ayers in celebration of the shot.

Hurley’s action raised debate on whether the two-time national championship-winning coach could’ve received a potentially game-altering technical foul. On Tuesday, March 31, Hurley said it was all in good fun after noting he and Ayers have a good on-court relationship.

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REQUIRED READING: Did Dan Hurley deserve a technical after game-winning shot for going face-to-face with ref?

“Really at that point in the game we had it won,” Hurley said on “The Triple Option” podcast. “And (Ayers is) an easy guy to work with during the game that I thought he was coming over to chest bump me to celebrate the shot. Because it’s not like that for me with him.

“My experience with him has been — we haven’t won every game, I haven’t agreed with every call — so that was, in no way, me and a ref that I had been at their throat the whole game. Other points in the game where I had my arm around him walking out of a timeout, we were cracking jokes and laughing with that situation. … That was more like the emotion of the shot and this is a cool-(expletive) ref.”

Hurley also clarified that Ayers — who commonly officiates UConn games as a Big East referee — was coming up to tell him there was 0.3 seconds left on the game clock. It’s clear Hurley felt comfortable with the gesture given their background, and it’s not a surprise given the coach’s tendency to be fiery on the sidelines — especially with officials.

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Hurley then brought up UConn’s loss to Marquette in the regular season finale, in which he was fined $25,000 by the Big East after he received a double-technical ejection for appearing to bump into the referee. He noted that situation was much different than the Elite Eight game.

“When I was on my man’s neck, screaming into his neck,” Hurley said. “That was a guy coming right up to the line and losing his mind.

Seth Greenberg, appearing on ESPN, relayed on March 30 that Ayers was similarly unbothered…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dan-hurley-clears-air-interaction-210818377.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-31 21:08:00

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