Analyst Rece Davis heaps praise on UConn's Dan Hurley despite second-round elimination vs Florida

Dan Hurley, head coach of UConn Huskies (24-12) saw his back-to-back defending champion team get eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by the No.1 seed Florida Gators on Sunday.

Following the defeat, analyst Rece Davis was full of praise for UConn on Tuesday's edition of "The Pat McAfee show".

"I think it's one of the great runs in modern tournament history because it is so difficult to keep a team together. Because if you have great young players, they go to the NBA. If you have great older players, somebody bids a lot more money, you have to manage your salary cap.

"Then you also have to deal with complacency, which is, as we've been told many times by people familiar to all of us, the enemy of greatness. And they were able to fight that off largely because of the force of Danny's personality. And he has to have his kind of guys playing for him. Not just anybody's going to be able to go and play at Connecticut for Dan Hurley."

Rece Davis also spoke about the importance of having a strong mentality in basketball, stating that players need to be tough to succeed. He believes that the Florida team has this mindset.

He also claimed that he was surprised to see Florida fight hard to win against UConn, as Hurley's side was not going to give up easily. Davis also defended the behavior of the Huskies' coach and called him the best, stating that his actions are just a part of who he is.

"He's going to have these bits of peak, you know, in the moments afterward and feel like that he got hosed and all of this. So I'm not too bothered by it. I think he got a little bothered by some stuff I said earlier this year when he's lying on the floor and screaming at the officials and stuff like that. He'll get over it. He's a great coach," he concluded.

The No.8 seed UConn Huskies were defeated 75-77 by the Gators and failed to make it to the Sweet 16. Liam McNeeley (23), Alex Karaban (14), and Samson Johnson (10) led the scoring, but it wasn't enough to keep their hopes of a 3-peat alive.

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament Second Round-Connecticut at Florida - Source: Imagn

Dan Hurley reacts to elimination from NCAA Tournament

UConn coach Dan Hurley was full of emotions during his post-match press conference after his team failed to qualify for the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.

“A lot of emotion, man,” Hurley said at his postgame news conference, twice stopping to hold back tears."

“We’re a passionate program. The players play with it. I coach with it. You’re always (expletive) drained when it’s over.”

The UConn coach had a visibly teary eye while expressing how passionate his players have been, and their dedication to their basketball program. Dan Hurley will now have to wait until next March for another run at National Championship glory.