Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley is known for going head-to-head with officials, but this time, he definitely took it too far.
The closing moments of the Duke-UConn Elite 8 matchup were the stuff of legend. Duke led 72–70 with 10 seconds remaining before committing a shocking turnover, which led to a long-range, game-winning three from UConn guard Braylon Mullins, with just 0.3 seconds left on the clock.
The thrilling moment capped off an incredible 19-point comeback and sent the Huskies to the Final 4. However, what went largely unnoticed at the time but has become quite controversial since is UConn coach Dan Hurley literally butting heads with a referee in the aftermath of what turned out to be the winning shot.
As the caption in the X post notes, Hurley could very easily have been (and probably should have been) issued a technical foul for making contact with the official. A penalty that would have put Duke at the line down only a point with three-tenths of a second left.
“Would have been well within the ref’s right to call a tech there. There is no bigger douchebag in the sporting world than Dan Hurley,” one fan wrote.
“Probably the worst coach in college basketball – unless you are a UCONN fan, of course. Yah, a technical should have been called – definitely,” wrote another.
“The ref should have T’ed him up no matter the situation. The university should make him sit out the semis. He acted like a second grader,” another opined.
UConn now awaits Illinois in the Final Four.