Former NBA ref calls Dan Hurley’s viral sideline exchange ‘weird,’ sparks officiating debate ahead of Final Four

Former NBA ref calls Dan Hurley’s viral sideline exchange ‘weird,’ sparks officiating debate ahead of Final Four originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

As the UConn Huskies prepare to face the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday night (6:09 p.m. ET, TBS), most of the chatter during the week has been revolving around the final seconds from the previous round.

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Braylon Mullins’ game-winner against Duke in the Elite Eight set Dan Hurley and his team into celebratory overdrive. The UConn coach paced the sideline and came face-to-face with referee Roger Ayers in an uncomfortable stare-down. For everyone who saw the moment after the game, there were one of two conclusions.

Hurley seemed hyped up over what he witnessed and did the unthinkable. So why wasn’t he given a technical foul for his actions? That was the question asked by many spectators who found the exchange to be out-of-line. However, Steve Javie saw this all differently.

The former NBA official gave a detailed perspective from the lens of calling the game and didn’t fault anyone in the situation. Javie admitted to Sporting News he saw the encounter between Hurley and Ayers after the game was decided.

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“It didn’t seem like much to me,” Javie said. “Weird for sure. But neither one seemed angry. Doesn’t even look like they said much, if anything, to each other.”

It’s easy for those who’ve never been in the midst of a game to say a referee got it wrong or somehow showed favoritism. Given Javie’s expertise in the game of basketball, the non-call was correct. If Ayers felt there was a problem, he would’ve called it on the floor.

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Hurley likely won’t have another chance to watch his team come back from a 19-point deficit in a NCAA Tournament game. This was a rare once-in-a-lifetime event, and he made the most of it.

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Publish date : 2026-04-04 17:34:00

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