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UConn basketball head coach Dan Hurley broke his silence on the viral clip of him blaming the referees for the loss against Florida. The Huskies went out on their shield against the red-hot Gators squad in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. While Dan Hurley's team mostly controlled this classic in the second half, Florida's All-American guard, Walter Clayton Jr, took over in the waning minutes to end the Huskies' chances of a three-peat. While Hurley was complimentary of the Gators in the postgame, his rant as he exited the floor drew much controversy.
The two-time national champion eventually addressed this incident on Wednesday with a short statement.
“Those are three great officials on that game. Although I said something in the heat of the moment, in an area of arena that pretty much always is media-free … Florida earned it. They made the shots, we didn’t.”
The officiating is not what cost UConn basketball in this loss
Some of the public has pointed to the free-throw disparity to justify Hurley's emotional comments right after this loss. However, the Gators were the more aggressive team in attacking the basket, shooting ten fewer threes than the Huskies. In addition, on several occasions, UConn intentionally sent Florida to the free-throw toward the end of the game.
While the officials, like always, made mistakes on Sunday, none of them were noticeably costly for each side. And from an overall conspiracy theory level standpoint, wouldn't it be better for the NCAA's bottom line if the Huskies had won and still had their quest for a three-peat alive? Regardless of the “4d chess” arguments, UConn basketball has much to be proud of for how it finished the season. On several occasions this year, the Gators have bullied and embarrassed elite teams with their physicality and made opponents adjust to their relentless pace.
For much of Sunday, Dan Hurley's team was getting to these 50-50 balls, matching and even surpassing the West Region's No. 1 seeded intensity, and controlled the pace. Players like Samson Johnson, Hassan Diarra, and Alex Karaban looked every bit of the two-time national champions they are throughout this contest. The Gators simply were more efficient from the field. And that hot shooting brought this squads confidence up, allowing it to match the Huskies' physicality. This led to some clutch offensive rebounds in the last few minutes, and then Walter Clayton Jr started to look like the first-team All-American selection that he is.
Overall, it was likely the shock and the emotion of the loss that led to these comments from Hurley. And if it wasn't, so be it. Clearly, the Huskies' leader has moved on, and this group still has much to be proud of. UConn basketball will surely be back with a much higher seed next year, so it doesn't have to see a legitimate title contender in the second round. Dan Hurley had a terrific gameplan on Sunday, once again showing that he is an outstanding NCAA Tournament coach. What a difference a few years make.
