Hurley calls late call 'a joke' after loss to Memphis
UConn coach Dan Hurley blasted referees for their officiating late during the two-time defending national champion and second-ranked Huskies’ 99-97 overtime loss to Memphis on Monday in the first round of the Maui Invitational.
Hurley said he took particular umbrage with an over-the-back foul call against UConn forward Liam McNeeley with the game tied at 92 with less than a minute remaining in overtime.
Hurley was then assessed a technical foul for his displeasure over the foul call. PJ Carter hit four straight free throws — two for the tech and the other pair for the personal foul — to give Memphis a 96-92 lead with 40.3 seconds to play.
“That was a joke. I just watched it,” Hurley said of the call, going on to say that Memphis made “no attempt to block out” on the play. “There was a player on Memphis that made a half ass effort to rebound that basketball and Liam McNeeley high pointed that rebound, and for that call to be made at that point was a complete joke.”
Hurley continued his thoughts on the call on that play, made by referee Pat Driscoll.
“How you can call that the way that game was going on is just beyond me,” Hurley continued. “I’ve never seen the one ref before. I didn’t even know he was a college ref and then I’m familiar with the other two, so I’m not surprised.”
Steven Anderson and Scott Brown were the other two referees working the game.
The Huskies, who saw their string of 17 consecutive wins dating back to February come to an end, had three players foul out. Memphis attempted 40 free throws and made 29 of them.
Tyrese Hunter scored 17 of his 26 points after halftime and shot 7 of 10 from 3-point range for the Tigers (5-0), who were 12-of-22 from beyond the arc as a team. PJ Haggerty had 22 points and five assists, Colby Rogers had 19 points and Dain Dainja scored 14.
Tarris Reed Jr. had 22 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Huskies (4-1). Alex Karaban had 19 points and six assists, and Jaylin Stewart scored 16.
Memphis led by as many as 13 with about four minutes left in regulation, but UConn chipped away and eventually tied it on Solo Ball‘s 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
