“I might have lost my balance by the absurdity of the call”: Dan Hurley reasons his abrupt fall; unloads on referees’ “complete joke” of a decision

UConn Huskies coach Dan Hurley criticized the referee for his call during his team's encounter against the Memphis Tigers. Hurley's actions earned him a technical foul and the opposition, four free throws.

In the first round of the Maui Invitational, the Memphis Tigers survived a nail-biting affair against the UConn Huskies, 99-97. They edged out the reigning back-to-back NCAA Champions in overtime, with fourth-year guard Tyrese Hunter scoring 17 of his 26 point total in the second half onwards.

For UConn head coach Dan Hurley, the crucial point of the game that led to their demise was Liam McNeeley's over-the-back foul on PJ Carter when the scores were tied at 92-92. The 51-year-old was far from pleased with the call and made his frustrations known. He was later issued a technical foul for his actions and this gave Memphis four bonus free throws that gave them a 96-92 lead, with about 40 seconds left.

Dan Hurley was visibly upset during the post-game press conference and when he was asked about his thoughts on the game's officiating, he disappointingly said:

"I had a lot of issues with what went on in the game. That over-the-back callat that point of the game, there was no attempt to block out. There was a player on Memphis that made a half-*ss effort to rebound that basketball and Liam McNeeley high-pointed that rebound and for that call to be made, at that point of the game was a complete joke."

"For me, I don't know what happened. I might have lost my balance by the absurdity of the call or maybe I tripped," he added.

Dan Hurley re-affirmed, however, that things would have still turned out the same if he had made that call.

"If I made that call at that point, I would have ignored that I was on my back...How you could call that while that game was going on with the way that game was going on is just beyond me," Hurley said.

Hurley may have seemingly taken subtle shots at the referee in question as he stated:

"I've never seen that one ref before. I didn't even know he was a college ref. I'm familiar with the other two so I'm not surprised."

Both teams were heading into the fray with identical 4-0 records. After Monday's result, UConn now holds a 4-1 standing in the Big East Conference while Memphis moves up to a 5-0 start and now holds the first seed early on in the ACC.

Dan Hurley's UConn Huskies now look forward to opportunities to bounce back

The unfortunate result puts the Huskies in the losers' bracket of the Maui Invitational, where they will face the Colorado Buffaloes after they lost to Michigan State. The game is slated to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET. on Tuesday, Nov. 26th, at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Following this fixture, UConn will return to their home court, the XL Center, on Nov. 30th against MD Eastern. The team will aim to bounce back through these games in their bid for a championship three-peat.