Dan Hurley is who he is. So we shouldn't be surprised when he crosses a line and gets ejected for it. In the waning seconds of UConn's shocking upset at the hands of Marquette, the head coach got himself tossed for making contact with an official. He was arguing a no-call by getting up in John Gaffney's face, pushing his chest into the ref's shoulder.
It was an embarrassing way to finish a rough outing. Hurley embarrassed himself while his team may have spoiled their chances of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Dan Hurley made contact with John Gaffney as he was getting ejected 😳pic.twitter.com/JY8EPe2M54
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 7, 2026
What does losing to Marquette mean for UConn and March Madness?
The loss was costly as the Huskies finished the season in second place in the Big East. A win would have given them a share of the conference title along with St. John's.
More frustrating, it was the third defeat for UConn in eight games. That's not exactly the kind of momentum you want with March Madness around the corner.
UConn finished the season at 27-4 with a 17-3 record in the Big East. They were widely expected to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Florida might take that spot now.
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Could Dan Hurley face a suspension from the Big East?
Making contact with an official resulted in an ejection, but Hurley may have more to worry about. The Big East could take further action. In fact, fans and media seem to expect it.
There was contact between Hurley and ref John Gaffney. Big East office is going to have to take a real hard look at that.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 7, 2026
If the @BIGEASTMBB has any modicum of Executive Leadership, Danny Hurley will be suspended for Thursday's Conference Tournament Game for contacting Referee John Gaffney (and frankly, the collective disgrace that was his behavior all afternoon). Kudos to Gaffney, who I've always… https://t.co/4W3HRwxbZs
— Ryan Patrick, Esq. (@CoachRPDubs) March 7, 2026
If nothing else, the conference may want to warn off future outbursts from Hurley. Letting him go without any further punishment, considering his track record of demonstrative behavior, could set a bad precedent.
The Big East Tournament begins on Wednesday, Mar. 11 but UConn wouldn't tip off until Thursday. Hurley could miss that game and more if the conference comes down hard on him.
Was Dan Hurley justified?
Obviously, Hurley wasn't justified in bumping an official. That's a no-no in all contexts. However, his anger didn't come from nowhere. The Huskies trailed by two with the clock ticking down. Silas Demary Jr. drove to the basket and made contact with a defender as he shot. The refs didn't call a foul
Stephen A. Smith thought it was a no-call.
Watching @UConnHuskies vs @MarquetteMBB right now. Coach Hurley just got ejected with 1.0 left. He was right to be furious on the NO-Call. The ejection was justified because you can’t touch the referee, but that should’ve been a foul for Demary, who would’ve had a chance to tie…
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) March 7, 2026
But there certainly wasn't a consensus on that front. Just as many people felt Hurley was throwing a fit over nothing.
This wasn’t even close to being a foul either the UConn player wasn’t even touched . Dan Hurley should’ve coached better against an 11-19 team if he didn’t want it to fall in the refs hands with 5 seconds left pic.twitter.com/SJ2B9vAT7p
— John (@iam_johnw) March 7, 2026
Regardless of whether it was a foul or not, Hurley did himself no favors.
Bobby and Dan Hurley ran afoul of the refs at the same time
Funnily enough, Dan wasn't the only Hurley getting into trouble with the refs at almost the exact same moment. On FS1, a double box had Dan's brother Bobby also getting a technical.
FOX was running a Hurley double box as Dan got ejected and Bobby got T'd up 😂ðŸ˜pic.twitter.com/qRNPaSibbX
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 7, 2026
Bobby, the current head coach of Arizona State, lost his cool during the Sun Devils' 86-65 loss to Iowa State.