It wasn’t the best of Saturday afternoons for UConn and coach Dan Hurley, with the Huskies losing their regular-season finale to Marquette, a team that should have no place beating the No. 4 school in the nation. Adding insult to injury, coach Hurley was ejected for a double-technical foul immediately after the play for making contact with an official with just one second left on the clock.
The game ended with a 68-62 win for the Golden Eagles. Silas Demary Jr. was UConn’s leading scorer with 17 points, and he was followed closely by Tarris Reed Jr. with 16. Reed led them in rebounds, with 10, and Demary Jr. led in assists with 8.
The loss means the UConn Huskies have failed in their search for the Big East regular-season title, which will go to No. 18 St. John’s. The defeat will especially sting, considering it was Marquette’s first win over a ranked opponent this season.
Dan Hurley Says He Didn’t Touch The Official in Defeat to Marquette
UConn beat writer at CT Insider, David Borges, has reported Dan Hurley’s comments in the aftermath of the loss to the Golden Eagles. According to the coach, he never touched the official.
“I don’t think I bumped the ref,” Hurley said.
However, he seems to acknowledge that in the heat of the moment, he might have missed what happened.
A Down Season For UConn? Recapping The Team’s Regular Season
The UConn Huskies had an uncharacteristic Big East regular season, ending the year with a 17-3 record, which included defeats to Marquette, Creighton, and St. John’s. Their regular season overall record was 27-4, and the extra defeat isn’t that much of a stain on them, considering it was against No. 2 Arizona.
The biggest problem for Dan Hurley’s men is that they allowed two unranked teams to beat them in the final leg of their regular season. While falling to direct rival St. John’s was an issue for them, it was at least an understandable loss.
Now the Huskies enter the Big East Tournament as the No. 2 seed, behind St. John’s. The difference between No. 1 and No. 2 seed wasn’t meaningful for the Big East Tournament, considering the top four seeds get a bye and advance directly to the quarterfinals.
What’s sure to take a hit is the Huskies national ranking, and that would likely impact their seeding for the NCAA Tournament later this month.
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