UConn HC Dan Hurley confesses criticism of him was "warranted", admits "mistake" during Maui Invitational

UConn coach Dan Hurley made headlines for the wrong reasons during the Maui Invitational in late November. Not only did his team lose all three games in the tournament, but his emotional outbursts during games drew sharp criticism.

In UConn's 97-99 loss to Memphis in the opening round, Hurley got a technical foul for arguing with the referees, even dropping to his knees in frustration in the final minute of overtime.

The then-No. 2 Huskies lost the next two games — 72-73 to Colorado and 67-85 to Dayton — before returning home from Hawaii with a disastrous 0-3 record.

Still upset about the criticism he and his team faced after the Maui Invitational, Dan Hurley took some shots after beating Butler on Saturday.

"I think criticism of me, based on how hard I push from a competitive standpoint, I think some of it was warranted," Hurley said via CTInsider.com. "But, the people that took shots, and were waiting years for their opportunity, I guess my mistake was giving them the opening by losing three in a row.

"I think it is good for us. The travel with the Maui trip, the Texas trip, that rough stretch of games – Baylor, at Texas, Gonzaga at MSG, the two Big East games – we’ve really had to battle and kind of save our season. We’ve all earned a Merry Christmas and a break from each other," he added.

Following the Hawaii debacle, many fans and pundits dismissed UConn as a serious title defender. However, the Huskies have bounced back, winning all six games since then. They defeated No. 25 Baylor 76-72, won 76-65 at Texas and took down No. 14 Gonzaga 77-71 to quiet some of the skepticism.

Dan Hurley vows never again to play three-game midseason tournament

Dan Hurley admitted that the Maui Invitational trip was too much for his team to handle and vowed it would never happen again. UConn had not lost a game since last February against Creighton before going on to win the national championship.

In the Maui Invitational, UConn's stretch of 17 unbeaten streak was snapped as they dropped all three games.

"I'm not doing another three-game MTE again," Hurley said via TheSpun.com. "Moving forward, we will only play home-and-homes or single-game events in big-time arenas. I don't think I'll ever do a three-game MTE again. Unless I'm not coaching here at some point, somewhere else. There's zero chance I'll do that again."

Dan Hurley and the Huskies will start their 2025 slate against DePaul in Chicago, Illinois on Jan. 1.