Big East admonishes Hurley for comments on referees
The Big East has come out with a public statement admonishing UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley for his postgame comments following the Huskies’ 74-68 loss at Xavier on Friday night.
“Big East sportsmanship rules prohibit our coaches from public criticism of our game officials,” the statement read. “We have established protocols in place for feedback by our schools regarding any officiating matter, and while we understand that tensions run high during the season, we expect these protocols to be honored.”
Hurley was assessed a technical foul by referee Doug Shows with 3:49 to play and UConn trailing by five, after disagreeing with a foul called against Tyrese
Martin on Xavier’s Colby Jones.
“I don’t know where Doug came from there, he came flying in, obviously,” Hurley told reporters after the game. “I watch a lot of games, and I’m at a lot of my games, and I see a lot of coaches in the ear of officials. I don’t think there was anything there that warranted a technical. So, I’ll be calling up our head of officials, because I want an explanation on that.”
Hurley believed that Jones may have stepped out of bounds before Martin’s foul.
“And it’s such a potentially bad call,” the coach added. “Running in when somebody’s made a call that’s potentially bad, and then call a borderline technical, is not good officiating.”
Hurley also said the two fouls called on center Adama Sanogo within the game’s first 5½ minutes were “brutal calls ... a joke.”
Hurley will not be fined or receive any other type of punishment, other than the league’s public admonishment.
UConn released a statement agreeing with the Big East’s statement:
“UConn athletics values the practice of good sportsmanship during competition, and expects our student-athletes, coaches, and staff to adhere to that principle at all times. Public criticism of officials does not align with those standards. We are in full support of the protocols provided by the Big East to address any concerns with officiating.”