“I don’t blame him”: Dan Hurley gets some respite from NCAAB analyst after refusing to play in 3-game MTE ever again
Dan Hurley has had enough of three-game multi-team events. The UConn Huskies coach told reporters after their win against Maryland Eastern Shore of his decision not to let them participate in such a tournament again after their woeful performance at the Maui Invitational.
NCAAB analyst Meghan McKeown supported Hurley's stance. She told co-host Zora Stephenson the reasons why MTEs are difficult for college teams in their podcast, "Got Next With Meghan and Zora":
"Coaches don’t all the time love these tournaments. Dan Hurley just famously went off about how he will never play in a three-game MTE ever again," McKeown said.
"I don’t blame him. These tournaments are hard because you don’t know what you’ll get a lot of the time. Short rest, you’re in a different environment. They’re great in terms of challenges but also you learn a lot about your team," she added.
Hurley learned a lot about his team during their trip to Hawaii. They entered the Maui Invitational as one of the tournament favorites and left as the bottom-placed team.
Dan Hurley, UConn Huskies go winless in Maui
The Huskies opened their campaign against the Memphis Tigers and lost 99-97 in overtime. Hurley blamed the officiating for the defeat, blasting the over-the-back foul call on Liam McNeeley during the extra period which resulted in four free throws for the Tigers.
The referees drew the ire of Hurley again in UConn's next game against the Colorado Buffaloes. A controversial no-call on Colorado's Trevor Baskin during a rebounding battle with McNeeley gave the Buffaloes an extra possession with 24 seconds left in the game clock.
That cost the Huskies, who were protecting a 72-71 lead at that stage. Andrej Jakimovski scored the go-ahead basket with eight seconds remaining, giving the Buffs a narrow 73-72 win.
Things went from bad to worse for Hurley and the Huskies in their final game against Dayton. They lost 85-67 to the Flyers to finish the tournament in eighth place with a 0-3 record.
Moreover, all of UConn's defeats at the Maui Invitational came against unranked teams, adding more embarrassment to the defending NCAA champions.
The Huskies dropped to No. 25 in the Associated Press rankings following their poor showing in Hawaii, leading Hurley to end their participation in future three-day events.