Dan Hurley’s explosive personality got the best of him Saturday.
With just seconds left during UConn’s 68-62 loss to Marquette, Hurley got booted from the game after picking up two technical fouls for getting into it with officials.
On one of the game’s final plays, Hurley thought that Huskies guard Silas Demary Jr. was fouled by Marquette’s Ben Gold with UConn down two.
Following the play, Hurley got into the face of referee John Gaffney and loudly voiced his displeasure with the call made, appearing to bump the official in the chest in the process.
After the game, however, Hurley denied that he ever touched Gaffney, although replays of the altercation looked to show otherwise.
“You could screenshot whatever you want to screenshot,” Hurley told reporters, according to The Associated Press. “I don’t feel like I made any contact with John. I don’t believe I did.”
Hurley admitted that he got close to Gaffney and was yelling at him, but insisted that he did not bump into him.
“I didn’t think I bumped the ref,” he said. “ I thought I got close to yelling at John and if John thinks that I bumped him, then he’ll say I bumped him but I don’t think that I bumped the official. I think I yelled into the back of his head ‘Foul, foul.’”
It is unclear if Hurley will face any further punishment for the incident, with Big East spokesman Mike Laprey saying, “We are aware and reviewing the situation,” per the AP.
“I’ve been ejected before, and I’ve been back out there,” Hurley added. “It’s not my first rodeo.”
Saturday’s defeat gives the No. 4-ranked Huskies their fourth loss of the season as they are set to start their conference tournament next week.
UConn, which has a bye, will face either Providence or Marquette in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
