Dan Hurley is not exactly a classy loser.
UConn’s polarizing coach was irate about the officiating in his team’s second-round March Madness loss to Florida.
The No. 8-seeded Huskies nearly pulled off an upset over No. 1-seeded Florida, but fell, 77-75, on Sunday at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. to end their dreams of a three-peat.
Warning: Graphic language
“I hope they don’t f–k you like they f–ked us,” Hurley shouted as he and the Huskies exited the court into the tunnel. “I hope they don’t do that to you Baylor.”
No. 9-seeded Baylor was getting set to take on No. 1-seeded Duke at the Lenovo Center following the UConn-Florida game.
UConn, the back-to-back national champions, were looking to become the first team to win three straight titles since John Wooden’s UCLA teams won seven straight from 1967-73.
The Huskies led the Gators most of the game, but a late flurry, led by Walter Clayton Jr., helped Florida avoid the scare and advance to the Sweet 16.
Florida took 34 foul shots and made 22 of them while UConn got 22 foul shots and made 19.
Hurley choked back tears later on.
“I thought we played with tremendous honor,” Hurley said in his postgame interview on the CBS broadcast. “We played with the heart of a championship program and a program that’s gone back-to-back. For a team to end what we really wanted to do, they were gonna have to put us down. Obviously, a worthy opponent like that, there’s honor in the way we went out.”
But in the way Hurley conducted himself, not so much.
He also took a moment to praise his players.
“I just love them,” Hurley said. “This year, it’s been a real battle. We’ve battled, we’ve had to battle and battle and battle. At times, I don’t think we liked each other a whole lot with some of the things we had to go through together. But I don’t think I’ll ever love a team more than how hard they fought for what we were trying to accomplish and for the honor they played with today.”
