The No. 2 Connecticut Huskies punched their ticket to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night after securing a thrilling 73-72 victory over the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils.
With Duke holding a 72-70 lead after UConn overcame a double-digit deficit, Duke turned the ball over trying to advance it past half court instead of holding it and waiting for a foul and it ultimately led to a steal by Braylon Mullins, a pass up the floor to Alex Karaban, and then Karaban instead of shooting a contested three, elected to drop it back off to Mullins who knocked down a game-winning logo three leaving just 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock.
Moment after that shot, however, a viral moment happened with UConn coach Dan Hurley who was clearly hyped up and full of emotion and referee Roger Ayers when they were seen for reason head-to-head, which fans decided to speculate was something should’ve been deemed a technical on Hurley.
However, after hours of the clip surfacing across social media Monday, Ayers finally spoke out on that situation in a conversation with ESPN’s Seth Greenberg, which Greenberg revealed on SportsCenter was “absolutely nothing” in the words of Ayers.
“I talked to Roger [Ayers] today. He said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He literally didn’t know what I was talking about,”
Greenberg said on SportsCenter. “He said, ‘Nothing happened. The ball went in, I was running back, they were celebrating. Danny leaned in to say something to me, I said something to him, it was absolutely nothing.'”
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It was certainly an unusual approach to a conversation between the two, and given Dan Hurley’s history of fiery reactions and run-ins with officials, it’s not surprising that fans and media began to speculate about what occurred in that moment.
However, it appears to have been much ado about nothing if Roger Ayers’ account is accurate. For those who believed Hurley should face a suspension or fine, that outcome does not seem likely following the exchange.
UConn will be back in action Saturday night when they take on the No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini. That game will be followed by the other semifinal matchup between the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines and the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats.
For Dan Hurley, this marks his third Final Four appearance in the last four seasons, with the previous two resulting in back-to-back national championship victories.
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