Creighton's Jamiya Neal issues apology after upsetting Dan Hurley, UConn with last second dunk to proceed to Big East Tournament finals

Creighton's Jamiya Neal apologized for his last-second dunk against UConn in the Big East semifinal, admitting he got caught up in the emotions of the game.

Neal sealed the 71-62 win with a flashy slam in the final seconds, drawing backlash from UConn players and coaches. As Creighton coach Greg McDermott and UConn’s Dan Hurley were heading for their postgame handshake, Neal took off for the dunk, hung on the rim and pumped up the crowd. UConn guard Hassan Diarra confronted him, shoving him briefly before tensions eased.

“They were already up with 7 seconds left. He didn’t want to dribble the ball out. Went in for a fancy dunk. I just felt it was disrespectful to the game of basketball,” Diarra said.

Neal later expressed regret. in the post-game presser, he said:

“I got caught up in the emotions of the game. Just a lot of emotions going on. So I would like to apologize for that,” Neal said. “I respect Coach Hurley and those guys over there. They have a great, great program... Yeah, I apologize. Just got caught up in the moment and I shouldn’t have did it.”

Neal finished with 19 points and five rebounds, helping Creighton (24-9) advance to Saturday’s Big East title game against top-seeded St. John’s.

Fans had mixed reactions to Jamiya Neal’s apologies

A heated finish marked Creighton’s Big East semifinal win over UConn. Jamiya Neal later apologized for his last-second dunk, but fans had mixed reactions. One X user questioned the need for an apology, writing:

“For what?? The dude who tried squaring up with Neal for dunking a basketball in a basketball game didn’t apologize btw.”

“It’s March ur playing at MSG u did nothing wrong!!!! #gojays,” another wrote.

“Give the dude a break, it was awesome. ALL hoops fans loved he dunked on loud mouth Hurley,” another wrote.

Some fans commented on Jamiya Neal's apology:

“Man held an apology press conference after seeing this,” one fan commented.

“When you apologize it’s sincere no way that was sincere,” one wrote.

“Back in my day he would’ve jumped by the entire team,” another wrote.

Creighton’s defense shut down UConn after halftime, holding the Huskies’ high-powered offense to just 1.00 points per possession.