In their game against the UConn Huskies on Saturday, Villanova Wildcats guard Tyler Perkins made a 3-point celebration that did not sit too well with UConn coach Dan Hurley. It was an intense affair right from the tip, as Villanova and UConn have had a long history of conference rivalry games.
At the 17:57 mark of the first half against the Huskies, Perkins took a pull-up 3-pointer on the left elbow after he was given a screen by Villanova big man Duke Brennan. After making the shot, Perkins then turned his attention to Hurley and the UConn bench.
Perkins seemingly let out a few words that served as trash talk towards his opposition. Hurley had a strong reaction to whatever was said, as he immediately tried to call the referees’ attention in the hopes of Perkins getting called for a technical foul.
There are no clear reports on what Perkins exactly said to Hurley and his UConn team, but the broadcast in a video posted by @tntsportsus on Instagram confirms the trash talk.
“Tyler Perkins was letting UConn know after this triple 👀#villanova #uconn #collegebasketball #hoops #bigeast,” @tntsportsus on Instagram captioned with a pair of eyes emoji.
– @tntsportsus on Instagram, February 21, 2026
Perkins is currently in his junior year of collegiate hoops in the current college basketball campaign, second with the Villanova-based program. He spent his freshman season with the Pennsylvania Quakers, before moving on to transfer to the Wildcats in his sophomore stint. For Hurley, he is currently in his eight campaign of coaching the Huskies, having won three national titles with the Connecticut-based program already.
The Villanova Wildcats Lost To The UConn Huskies In Front Of Their Fans By 10 Points
Unfortunately for Tyler Perkins and the rest of coach Kevin Willard‘s Villanova Wildcats, they ended up losing to the UConn Huskies by 10 points, 73-63, in front of their home crowd even after their fiery start to the game.
Perkins did his part as he finished with a game-high 15 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats were outscored 39-31 in the second half.
The Wildcats now hold a current overall record of 21-6 (12-4 Big East) and are sitting as the No. 3 seed in the 2026 Big East conference standings.
For Hurley and the Huskies, they improve to an overall record of 25-3 (15-2 Big East) as momentarily the second seed in the Big East rankings.
