Mark Turgeon, Dan Hurley exchange words at Cancun Challenge.
The Cancun Challenge came to end with the Maryland Terrapins beating Rhode Island 86-63 in a game that was never close. Things started to get interesting toward the end of the game, when Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon and Rhode Island head coach Dan Hurley got into a heated exchange.
Hurley was upset after Turgeon chose to call a time out after a made three by Jake Layman. The two coaches exchanged words and had to be restrained by their players. Turgeon was not shying away from his anger as he was yelling loudly across the scorer’s table and the exchange resulted in technical fouls for both Hurley and Turgeon.
The exchanges between Hurley and Turgeon didn’t end there. Before Melo Trimble was handed the MVP trophy Turgeon and Hurley shook hands and exchanged words again.
During the team handshakes, things continued to be heated as a tournament official reported that Hurley made derogatory remarks toward the Maryland players. This sent a little bit of a tizzy through the Maryland players as they stepped back and told an assistant coach to back up.
Thursday morning Thor Bjorn, the head athletic direct at Rhode Island, released this statement as reported in the Baltimore Sun Times, “I am 100% confident that neither Dan Hurley nor any member of our coaching staff made any derogatory remarks.”
During the post game press conferences, neither coaches or players would comment further on the situation. Instead they focused on what happened during the game. Turgeon and Maryland players offered compliments to a well coached, high quality Rhode Island team. Hurley offered similar compliments toward Turgeon and Maryland. The exchange seems to have been minimized and no further response from Maryland, or Rhode Island has been reported.
H/T Washington Post