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Dan Hurley nearly takes off coat after receiving technical foul vs. St. John's in Big East championship

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz03/14/26NickSchultz_7

Amid a frustrating start to Saturday’s Big East Tournament championship against St. John’s, UConn coach Dan Hurley made his thoughts clear with the officials. He also received a technical foul early on, which led him to nearly take off his coat.

Hurley was visibly upset after an apparent no-call with 12:34 to go. The FOX cameras caught him stomping on the sideline while asking for a foul, and it ultimately led the officials to blow the whistle for a technical.

Ian Jackson then went 1-for-2 from the free throw line after the call. St. John’s jumped out to a lightning-fast start with a 10-0 run out of the gates and led by as many as 16 points through the first 12 minutes of the title game.

At the under-8 minute media timeout with 7:34 to go, UConn trailed St. John’s 32-19 amid a rough go on both sides of the ball. Speaking with FOX’s Allison Williams, Hurley pointed to the Huskies’ defense as a key issue while also, conversely, acknowledging how well St. John’s was playing on defense.

“Just defensively, we’re a mess right now,” Hurley said. “Just defensively. We’re giving up the paint, we’re giving up threes. Defensively, they’re really pressuring us.”

St. John’s eventually took a 40-27 lead over UConn into halftime and held the Huskies without a field goal for the final 3:07 of the first half. For reference, the Red Storm only scored 40 points in the entire game during their last game against each other.

Dan Hurley: UConn-St. John’s will be ‘death match’

Saturday’s Big East title game marks the third matchup between UConn and St. John’s this year. The Red Storm won the first showdown Feb. 6, 81-72, but the Huskies dominated Round 2 in a 72-40 victory in Storrs.

That set the stage for Saturday’s championship game at Madison Square Garden. After UConn’s semifinal win over Seton Hall, Dan Hurley acknowledged what his team would be up against and predicted it would be a “death match” with so much at stake.

“I just think both programs have really pushed each other the whole year,” Hurley said Friday postgame. “We’re a 29-win team, they’re a 27-win team. I mean, two of the best teams in the country. Obviously it’s going to be a death match for the Big East championship.

“But also, you know, both of us have really delivered for this league in a year where this league needs a game like this tomorrow night that everyone that’s a basketball fan’s going to be dialed into. So, yeah, it’s exciting. You knew there was going to be a third round and here we are.”