UConn HC Dan Hurley’s nephew TJ Hurley leads with commanding performance for Vermont
While UConn head coach Dan Hurley may have had a difficult time last week, his nephew, TJ Hurley, had contrasting fortunes. The 6'5" guard is becoming a top player for Vermont, putting up another dazzling display for the Catamounts in their game against the Northeastern Huskies on November 30.
Hurley, who is in his junior season of college basketball, finished as the Catamounts' top scorer against the Huskies with 23 points in his 33-minute performance.
He enthralled fans at the Roy L Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, Vermont, shooting six-for-14 from the field, three-for-six from three-point range, and eight-for-nine from the free-throw line, helping the Catamounts score a narrow 68-64 win over the Huskies.
Hurley received ample support from fellow guard Jace Roquemore and senior forward Ileri Ayo-Faleye, who were the only players besides Hurley to score in double digits. Roquemore finished with 13 points and five rebounds, while Ayo-Faleye finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
TJ Hurley has been one of the standouts at Vermont, emerging as one of the program's top scorers this season. Across their opening nine games, Hurley has averaged a team-leading 14.6 points, while also averaging 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
The Catamounts' victory over the Huskies takes them to 5-4 this season, and they will face the Brown Bears on December 3 at 7:00 PM ET.
Dan Hurley suffers painful defeats in Maui
Meanwhile, Dan Hurley and UConn endured a torrid run in the Maui Invitational, losing three games in a row against the Memphis Tigers, the Colorado Buffaloes, and the Dayton Flyers.
The reigning national champions were taken to overtime by Memphis, where Hurley received a technical foul, which would ultimately hand the Tigers a four-point advantage that they couldn't come back from. They were then hard done by Andrej Jakimovski's clutch layup with eight seconds to go in the second half of their game against the Buffaloes, suffering a narrow 72-73 defeat.
The Huskies were then outdone by the Flyers, with the final scoreline reading 67-85 to end a painful run in Hawaii.
UConn came to Maui as the No. 2 team per AP's Top 25. However, they suffered a massive 23-place drop in the weekly poll's latest update earlier today to rank 25th despite their convincing 99-45 victory over the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks on November 30.
Dan Hurley and UConn will be keen to bounce back in their first ranked matchup of the season, when they face No. 15 Baylor in the Big East-Big 12 Battle at home on December 4 at 6:30 PM ET.