Dan Hurley might have a thing for getting into people’s heads.
During a sideline interview following UConn’s 71-62 Final Four win over Illinois on Saturday, Hurley, visibly hyped for his team’s trip to the NCAA championship, head-butted Huskies guard Braylon Mullins in celebration.
The two rubbed heads while Hurley screamed in excitement before he took questions from the sideline reporter, and he was met with massive boos from the crowd.
“Are they booing? The headbutt? I don’t know what they’re booing,” he jokingly quipped.
Hurley then continued to praise Mullins, who finished Saturday’s game with 15 points and two steals, along with shooting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
“But he’s amazing, and he got us here and got us off to a great start and then the 3 closed it,” Hurley said of Mullins.
This is not the first time Hurley has given someone a headbutt while on the court, with the head coach going forehead to forehead with referee Roger Ayers after Mullins hit a game-winning 3-point shot to defeat Duke and send UConn to the Final Four.
The puzzling interaction immediately went viral on social media, with Hurley calling the exchange a “head hug.”
“It was not, well — head hug? I don’t know. You ever see reindeer where they kind of, with each other’s nose … more of a nuzzle, an affectionate nuzzle,” Hurley said Wednesday on “Pardon My Take.”
Many wondered if there was any tension during the moment, but Hurley insisted that there is no ill will between him and Ayers.
“With Roger — see, all these refs are different. They’ve all got different thresholds or personalities,” Hurley said. “Roger’s very playful. The guy is one of the greatest refs ever. He don’t mess up a lot of calls. When you’re going too far, he’ll give you a look.
“He’ll T your ass, but he’s playful, he’s funny, he messes with you during a game, you bust his chops back. I would say that there’s a lot of coaches that he refs that you have a much different type of a relationship with Roger than you do with pretty much every other official.”
The Huskies are set to face off against the winner of Saturday night’s Final Four matchup between Michigan and Arizona in their third NCAA championship game appearance in four seasons.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
