Yukon Coach Dan Hurley downplayed his bizarre conversation with an official at the end of Sunday’s historic NCAA Tournament victory. rulerHe said he felt the experienced referee was trying to “puff up my chest to celebrate”.
UConn completes one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA Tournament history as a freshman Braylon Mullins Missed a 35-foot 3-point attempt to give the Huskies a 73–72 lead with 0.4 seconds remaining in the Elite Eight game against the Blue Devils.
Immediately after Mullins’ shot, cameras showed an excited Hurley walking away from the UConn bench area and bumping heads with official Roger Ayers for a few seconds before the two men continued walking in opposite directions.
Hurley addressed the now-viral incident during an interview with the “Triple Option” podcast this week, saying Ayers is an “easy guy to work with” and denied there was any animosity between the two during the game.
“Actually, at that point in the game, we won,” Hurley said. “And [Ayers is] He was so easy to work with during the game that I thought he was coming over to me and beating his chest to celebrate the shot.”
Hurley was not called for a technical foul, and UConn ultimately won after Duke’s desperation inbounds attempt was rejected, securing the Huskies’ eighth Final Four trip and their third in four years under Hurley.
The NCAA announced its 11 officials for the Final Four on Monday, a day after UConn overcame a 19-point deficit to defeat Duke in the tournament’s East Regional final. The NCAA’s announcement did not include specific game assignments, but the list of officials did not include Ayers, who has officiated in seven Final Fours, including last year.
Hurley called Ayers a “cool-ass referee” and said they had positive interactions throughout the game.
“That’s not the case for me with him,” Hurley said. “My experience with them has been – we haven’t won every game, I don’t agree with every call. But there was no way I and a ref were with them the whole game.
“There were other points in the game where I had my arm around him, coming out of timeouts, we were telling jokes and laughing.”
ESPN’s Seth Greenberg said on “Sportscenter” that he spoke to Ayers on Monday, who told Greenberg that “nothing happened” with Hurley. Greenberg, a longtime college basketball coach, said that Ayers “virtually had no idea what I was talking about” and that the conversation with Hurley was “absolutely nothing.”
Hurley told the “Triple Option” podcast that Ayers contacted him to let him know how much time was left on the clock after Mullins’ miracle shot.
“He was just coming over to tell me there was a 0.3 [seconds] – ‘I think the clock’s going to be 0.3 or 0.4’, that’s what he was saying to me,” Hurley said. “And I was still very excited about the shot going in.”
Hurley, who has a confrontational history with officials, was ejected from a regular season game earlier this month Marquette After making contact with referee John Gaffney in the final seconds.
ucon will play Illinois Saturday in Indianapolis in the first Final Four game, followed by the second national semifinal michigan And Arizona.
