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UConn’s Dan Hurley criticizes referees for ‘egregious’ losses
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UConn’s Dan Hurley criticizes referees for ‘egregious’ losses

Dan Hurley was at it again.

UConn’s basketball coach complained about the referees for the second day in a row after the Huskies lost a nail-biter to Colorado in the Maui Invitational on Tuesday night.

UConn dropped consecutive games for the first time since 2022 when they were upset by the Buffaloes 73-72.

Connecticut basketball coach Kimani Young, right, holds off head coach Dan Hurley during a timeout in UConn’s 73-72 loss to Colorado on Nov. 26, 2024. Marco Garcia-Imagn images

Hurley found himself upset about an offensive rebound knocked down by Colorado’s Trevor Baskin to Liam McNeely with 24 seconds left.

McNeely was called for an over-the-back foul against Memphis in the exact same spot on Monday, resulting in a controversial turn of events.

“It obviously has a big impact on the game. If it’s called over the back, obviously we’re going to go to the free-throw line,” Hurley said of the play, which came with the Huskies leading 72-71. “Maybe we’ll shoot a one-on-one. I don’t even know what the bad situation was at the time. It just tells how the last two days went for us. Yesterday the biggest play of the game was an over-the-back called against us. Today it was even more blatant because the boy – Baskin – pulled Liam’s arm down. I’ve seen the replay of it. It’s ironic.”

UConn head coach Dan Hurley reacts to the play during his team’s loss to Colorado at the Lahaina Civic Center. Marco Garcia-Imagn images

Hurley added that his team’s defense had ultimately been the bigger problem.

Baskin’s rebound led to the Buffaloes being able to call a timeout with 20 seconds left.

Colorado forward Trevor Baskin (6) calls for a timeout while being guarded by Connecticut forward Liam McNeeley. Marco Garcia-Imagn images

Hurley had to be restrained by assistant Kimani Young during the timeout as he was furious about what had just happened.

Andrej Jakimovski managed to get the go-ahead with eight seconds left and lift Colorado to victory.

On Monday night, Hurley cursed a referee and handed himself a technical foul, before later describing the call on McNeely as a “complete joke” while speaking to reporters.