Dan Hurley and the #19 UConn Huskies’ (14-5, 6-2 Big East) 2024/25 season hasn’t gone entirely to plan so far.. The two-time defending national champions sit one game behind Marquette and St. John’s in the Big East and have played through some uncomfortably close games over the last two weeks. One such game came on Tuesday night when the Huskies hosted the struggling Butler Bulldogs (8-11, 1-7 Big East).
Holding a 39-31 lead at the halftime break, UConn allowed the Bulldogs to claw back into the game. Butler took a 68-66 lead with only two minutes remaining in the game before Huskies forward Alex Karaban leveled the score at 68 with a jump shot. The Huskies missed four consecutive shots to close regulation, and the game went to overtime. UConn managed to squeak by with a 2-point victory after the extra period, but the win isn’t what is garnering headlines. Instead, it’s head coach Dan Hurley’s antics, both before and after the final whistle, that are drawing attention to the storied program.
Dan Hurley: “I’m The Best Coach In The (expletive) Sport”
With 2:58 remaining in the first half, Hurley approached a referee to discuss what he thought was a missed foul on the Bulldogs. TV cameras caught Hurley yelling at the official, at one point appearing to say “Don’t turn your back on me, I’m the best coach in the (expletive) sport”.
He was making his point pic.twitter.com/kfYOPMEmF5
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 22, 2025
Hurley addressed the alleged incident in his post-game press conference:
“I’m gonna sound like an (expletive) here. I want some level of communication… I think what had happened on that particular play was Alex (Karaban) got fouled by (Andre) Screen on the defensive rebound… and he kind of stumbled backwards. While he was stumbling backwards, he got held and it ended up being a jump ball, so now we lost the possession arrow. Now that possession arrow, that’s an issue when you get to late game.”
Hurley continued to say that he feels his team receives unfair treatment from game officials:
“For all the success we’ve had the last couple years, I don’t think there’s a program that has won as much as we’ve won that, at times, gets as bad a whistle.”
There may be a grain of truth to Hurley’s statement. Following the win over Butler, in which UConn shot 14 free throws compared to the Bulldogs’ 28, the Huskies average 17.4 free throw attempts per game, ranking 274th nationally and 7th in the Big East.
Hurley continued, saying that his team isn’t perfect when it comes to fouling, but he wishes game officials would call fouls the same both ways:
“We foul, but we get held. We’re a movement team. We have a lot of off-ball movement and it’s the same story every single game. We definitely foul on dribble penetration when we struggle to guard the ball, we make some dumb fouls… but we get held the whole game.”
Hurley made further incendiary comments regarding the officiating when he insinuated that the foul discrepancy the UConn Huskies have been facing was the result of officials not liking him on a personal level:
“If it’s because they don’t like me, that’s a problem. Because it’s like an integrity of the game issue. Like, you can’t come into a game saying, ‘I’m not gonna call fouls because I don’t like this coach’s demeanor.’… It’s a problem, and it’s been going on for a lot of games and I haven’t said anything.”
UConn Huskies Ref Struggles This Season
Wednesday wasn’t the first time that Hurley and the Huskies have had tense interactions with referees. Against the Memphis Tigers on November 24, Hurley was assessed a technical foul after UConn center Liam McNeeley was called for an over-the-back foul in the final minute of overtime. The Tigers sank their ensuing four free throws, and UConn ultimately lost the game 99-97.
After the game, Hurley unleashed his fury with the officiating towards the media room:
“That was a joke. I just watched it… How you can call that the way that game was going on is just beyond me.”
Whatever Hurley’s feelings about the state of the NCAA’s officiating, his team has an uphill battle in front of them to capture a Big East regular season title. They’ll get their first shot to climb the rankings in a matchup with Xavier (12-7, 4-4 Big East) on January 25.
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