“This was more egregious. It’s ironic”: Dan Hurley makes his feelings clear about crucial referee decision after UConn’s consecutive losses
Dan Hurley's UConn fell behind a controversial ending in the second game of the Maui Invitational on Tuesday. As the Huskies led by one (72-71) with less than 24 seconds in the game, referees did not give a potential foul call on Trevor Baskin.
The Colorado Buffaloes' forward leaped over Liam McNeeley during a loose ball, pulling his arm down and grabbing an over-the-back rebound. Buffaloes converted on the possession and ultimately won the contest 73-72.
Liam McNeeley grabbed a clean over-the-back rebound over PJ Carter on Monday. However, he was handed a foul with 40 seconds in the game. With that, in Tuesday's post-game conference, Dan Hurley reflected on the last-moment officiating in Huskies' back-to-back losses.
"It just speaks to how these last two games have gone for us," Hurley said. "(On Monday), the biggest play of the game was an over-the-back that was called against us. (Tonight), this was more egregious because Baskin pulled Liam's arm down, I saw the replay of it. It's ironic."
Dan Hurley immediately noticed the slip-up by the referees. However, unlike the game against the Memphis Tigers, the coach refrained from sparking a verbal war with the officials.
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Colorado trailed by eight points at the half but bounced back in the second half. They converted more than 55% of their 3-point shots, as opposed to UConn's 38.7% and outrebounded the Huskies 28-26.
Dan Hurley wants his roster to focus on the bigger picture
UConn’s back-to-back losses come after the program had won 17 consecutive contests since February 2024. It is also the first major hiccup for his 2024-25 roster, which is one of the favorites to win the NCAA tournament.
Dan Hurley wants his young roster to remain mentally strong, focus on getting better on the court and move on from the recent set of losses.
"We've got to be incredibly strong mentally right now and keep investing in the group," Hurley said. "It's a group that was never going to play the highest level of basketball that it's going to play down the road, with all these Solo Balls and Liam McNeeleys and Jaylin Stewarts and all these young guys we need to develop."
"But, we really needed to be able to gut out these last two games here, as we're trying to find ourselves. It's definitely knocked us on our ass."
The Buffaloes will now play the winner of Iowa State Cyclones and Daytona Flyers for the fifth-place matchup. UConn will face the loser of the Flyers/Cyclones game at the seventh spot.