UConn basketball coach blames Syracuse native in technical meltdown: ‘You’re a joke!’

UConn basketball coach Dan Hurley had a meltdown in the final minute of his team’s overtime loss to Memphis.
Connecticut, the NCAA’s No. 2 ranked team, lost 99-97 in the first round of the Maui Invitational tournament and saw a 17-game winning streak that began last season come to an end. Hurley blamed the officiating, including Syracuse native Pat Driscoll, who has been a college hoops referee for three decades.
Hurley was livid after Driscoll called an over-the-back offensive rebounding call against the Huskies’ Liam McNeeley when the game was tied with 40.3 seconds remaining. Hurley fell to the floor and was whistled for a technical foul.
“You are a f—ing joke!” Hurley screamed at the officiating crew. “You’re a joke!”
Memphis’ PJ Carter made four free throws — two for the personal foul, two for the technical — to put the Tigers ahead for good. Memphis coach Penny Hardaway called the victory over the back-to-back defending national champions the biggest win of his coaching career.
Hurley told CBS Sports that he didn’t think his technical foul was the reason his team lost: “I think it was the s—-y calls.”
Hurley, who had to be held back by an assistant coach during the heated moment, continued to object to Driscoll after the game.
“For that call to be made at that point of the game was a complete joke,” Hurley told media afterwards.
“I might have lost my balance by the absurdity of the call, or maybe I tripped… But if I made that call at that point, I would have ignored the fact that I was on my back. If I made that call, I would have ignored that. I would have ignored that. That was a major, obviously, a major,” he continued. “How you could call that while that game was going on, the way that game was going on is just beyond me.”
ESPN reports Driscoll officiated the game with two other refs, Steven Anderson and Scott Brown. Hurley said he didn’t know one of them.
“I’ve never seen the one ref before. I didn’t even know he was a college ref and then I’m familiar with the other two, so I’m not surprised,” Hurley said.
According to the Associated Press, UConn was also called for a technical about 4 minutes into the game when the team’s medical trainer said something the referees didn’t like. The Huskies’ Samson Johnson was also T’d up as part of a double-technical midway through overtime.
“Samson was getting shoved. His jersey was ripped. He didn’t get a foul called for him the entire game,” Hurley said. “He ended the game with his jersey ripped down the center, but they get him on every call. He’s frustrated. That was crazy, man. Crazy.”
It was the first loss for Connecticut since Feb. 20, before going to win the Big East Tournament and the NCAA championship last season.
Driscoll was inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 2021 and has long been a figure in Central New York, including positions with the City of Syracuse, Say Yes to Education, and the Boys and Girls Club of Syracuse.