Dan Hurley was heated following UConn men’s basketball’s 77-75 loss to Florida on Sunday.
Hurley and the Huskies’ quest for a three-peat ended with a loss to the No. 1 Gators in the 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament. Walking off the court, it was clear that Hurley was not thrilled with the referees and the calls against UConn throughout the game.
Hurley commented to Baylor coaches and players awaiting playing their game, ‘I hope they don’t [expletive] you like they [expletive] us, Baylor.’
After the game, Hurley addressed why he was heated when coming off the court. Specifically, he was heated about a no-call against Alex Karban when he drove to the hoop and had contact made with him.
The Huskies held a 61-59 lead with 3:05 left in the game. Following the no-call on the missed layup by Karaban, Walter Clayton Jr. hit a 3-pointer to give Florida the lead. A turnover led to a Will Richard dunk and the Gators had a 64-61 lead.
UConn tied the game at 64 following a timeout but never re-gained the lead again.
‘Part of (the emotion) is probably just the season, how tumultuous the season has been. The team battled and fought just to qualify for the tournament, and then how the game played out, up three at the last media (timeout) we have two free throw rebound mistakes,’ Hurley said in his media availability. ‘With past teams we’ve had issues like that occur but those games we were up 15-18 so they weren’t as magnified. And obviously the Karaban drive on the baseline, you know, there was a lot of contact there and we were up one I think at that point or two potentially. I thought that was a big play too.’
UConn was called for 21 personal fouls, while Florida was called for 17. The Gators were 22-of-34 from the free throw line, while the Huskies shot 19-of-22 from the charity stripe.
The Huskies’ season ended with a 24-11 record. It was the first time the Huskies lost double-digit games since the 2019-20 season.
‘I think when we go back and watch this film on the flight back today, I think it’s going to be crushing looking at those free throw rebound plays again, looking at the Karaban finish on the baseline with a no call on that,’ Hurley said.
