Dan Hurley is known for his emotion, but usually, the two-time national champion is expressing through outbursts on the sidelines while his UConn Huskies steamroll their way through the NCAA Tournament. But on Sunday when his program’s 13-game March Madness win streak finally came to an end with a 77-75 loss to No. 1 seed Florida in the second round of the West Region, the fiery competitor let his softer side show through.
In a postgame interview with CBS’s Tracy Wolfson, Hurley fought back tears as he relayed the message he sent to his team, which came up short in its title defense. “I just love them,” Hurley told Wolfson, “this year has been a real battle, we’ve battled, and we’ve had to battle and battle and battle. And at times, I don’t think we like each other a whole lot, with some of the things we’ve had to go through together, but I don’t think I’ll ever love a team more.”
High praise from a head coach who just led back-to-back teams to championships. However, considering the adversity that this year’s team faced after losing the core of those championship teams and players like Tristen Newton and Donovan Clingan, maybe it shouldn’t be surprising how close the group became.
Without those superstars in Storrs, Hurley’s team got off to an incredibly slow start, going 0-3 at the Maui Invitational before rebounding to win eight straight through the start of Big East play. Hurley worked to integrate Big East Freshman of the Year Liam McNeeley, and then reintegrate him after a midseason ankle injury, and the veteran head coach did everything he could to help sophomore Solo Ball develop into an offensive star.
However, despite Hurley’s flawless gameplan, taking advantage of Florida’s switching defensive philosophy with off-ball movement and slips to the basket to spring shooter and create mismatches, UConn didn’t have the firepower to advance to the Sweet 16. McNeeley, Ball, and two-time champ Alex Karaban just couldn’t hit enough of those open shots to take down the talented Gators with that group finishing 6-26 from three.
“They showed their quality,” Hurley said of the SEC Tournament Champions. “I thought we played with tremendous honor, I thought we played with the heart of championship program. A program that’s gone back-to-back, and for a team to end what we wanted to do, they were going to have to put us down, and obviously a worthy opponent like that, there’s honor in the way we went out.”
That reflective perspective came just minutes after the game went final, but wasn’t Hurley’s initial response to the two-point defeat. As he headed off the court, Hurley was captured, well burning off the last bit of the fire that burns so bright on the sidelines every time the Huskies take the floor.
“I hope they don’t f$&@ you like they F’ed us, Baylor. I really hope they don’t.” Danny Hurley to Baylor walking off the floor after a slug fest loss to top-seed Florida. Likely talking about officiating, if I had to guess #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/zKKsdfsjBt
— Joey Ellis (@Jellis1016) March 23, 2025
While it earned Hurley his fair share of detractors, that fire will keep UConn in the National Championship picture season after season. No matter what seed they earn or how talented their roster is, as long as that man is on the bench, the Huskies will never be an easy out this time of the year.