Dan Hurley praises referees despite foul disparity between UConn, Michigan in NCAA championship

Though it doesn’t quite eclipse his two national championships and three Final Four appearances, Dan Hurley is known throughout the college basketball world for his spirited interactions with officials.

After one of the most difficult losses of his career, though, the UConn coach had something else to give out to the crew who worked the game: praise.

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In his postgame news conference following the Huskies’ 69-63 loss to Michigan in the 2026 NCAA Tournament championship game, Hurley referred to the trio of referees working the game — James Breeding, Jeff Anderson and Kipp Kissinger — as “an all-star group.” He added they did what they could to officiate a game between two physical teams.

“It’s hard to ref that game,” Hurley said. “We both played so hard. That’s not an easy game to officiate. If I could have those three guys ref every game the rest of my career, I would sleep well at night.”

Officiating was a persistent talking point during the Wolverines’ win. UConn was called for 22 fouls, nearly double the 13 Michigan was whistled for, and attempted 16 free throws to the Wolverines’ 28 (of which they sank 25).

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In the first half, when the Huskies started to set the tone for a slower, more plodding game that gave them a better chance to beat the more up-tempo Wolverines, UConn was whistled for 11 fouls to Michigan’s five. In the process, two of the Huskies’ starters were in early foul trouble, with Silas Demary Jr. picking up his second foul with 13:30 remaining in the first half and Solo Ball doing the same with 12:07 before halftime.

They’re the kinds of data points that had Hurley, for all of his kind words about the referees, wondering what could have been.

“It’s not the reason why we lost the game,” he said. “Obviously plus-13 at the free-throw line, plus-12 in attempts. I just thought that the first half foul trouble really…

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Publish date : 2026-04-07 14:18:00

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