Dan Hurley’s UConn Huskies have made three Final Four appearances in the last four years. This year, UConn had to beat the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight round to qualify for the Final Four. And they made it happen with a 73-72 win.
As expected, it wasn’t an easy win for Hurley’s team. Duke had dominated the game from the beginning, maintaining a double-digit lead going into the second half. However, the Huskies went on a 44-28 run in the second half to win the game by one point.
In the last few seconds of the game, Braylon Mullins stepped up for his team, draining a 35-foot three to put UConn ahead by one point. With less than a second to go after his shot, the Huskies were headed to the Final Four.
There was one more thing in the final second that they had to be careful about. Players on the UConn bench were excited about winning the game, and they were ready to storm on the court before the final buzzer.
Hurley’s wife, Andrea, took the responsibility to keep the players off the court in order to avoid getting a technical. When Hurley was asked about it during an appearance on ‘Pardon My Take’, he trolled Andrea.
“She knows nothing,” Hurley said. “She’s a boss…and her language is colorful too. I mean, she was grabbing people around the back of their warmups. She doesn’t know anything about basketball.”
Hurley revealed that on their way back home, he asked her if she ever thought his team would make three Final Four appearances in four years. “I didn’t even know a Final Four existed until four years ago,” Andrea responded.
While she’s not deep into basketball like her husband, Andrea has always been supportive of Hurley’s coaching career.
Dan Hurley on His Moment with Roger Ayers
Hurley is always energetic on the sidelines during games. He is dramatic, he yells at the top of his lungs, and lets his passion for basketball and his program be on display. One moment from the Duke game involving Hurley went viral.
After Mullins hit the long three, Hurley was pumped as he knew the game was over and his team was going to the Final Four. In a moment of celebration, he almost bumped heads with Roger Ayers, one of the officials for the game.
“Really, at that point in the game, we had it won,” Hurley said. “And [Ayers is] such an easy guy to work with during the game, that I thought he was coming over to chest-bump me to celebrate the shot.”
The video went viral on the internet because it was hilarious seeing Coach Hurley wanting to celebrate with a referee.
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