UConn basketball coach blames Syracuse native in tech 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 end. Hurley blamed the referees, including Syracuse’s Pat Driscoll, who has been a college hoops referee for three decades.

Hurley was furious after Driscoll called an over-the-back offensive rebound call on the Huskies’ Liam McNeely with the game tied with 40.3 seconds left. Hurley fell on the floor and was whistled for a technical foul.

“You’re a f—ing joke!” Hurley screamed with 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 win over the back-to-back defending national champions the biggest win of his coaching career.

Hurley told CBS Sport 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 restrained by an assistant coach during the heated moment, continued to protest Driscoll after the game.

“Because the call that was made at that point in the game was a complete joke,” Hurley told the media afterward.

“I could have lost my balance because of the absurdity of the call, or maybe I tripped… But if I made that call at the time, I would have ignored the fact that I was on my back. If I made that call, I would have ignored it. I would have ignored that. It was a major, of course, a major,” he continued. “How you could call that while that game was going on, the way that game was going, is beyond me.”

ESPN reports Driscoll refereed the game with two other referees, Steven Anderson and Scott Brown. Hurley said he didn’t know either of them.

“I’ve never seen that one umpire before. I didn’t even know he was a college umpire, and 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 refs didn’t like. The Huskies’ Samson Johnson was also T’d up as part of a double-technical midway through overtime.

“Samson got pushed. His jersey was ripped. He didn’t get a foul on him the whole game,” Hurley said. “He finished the game with his jersey ripped down the middle, but they get him on every call. He is frustrated. That was crazy, man. Crazy.”

It was the first loss for Connecticut since Feb. 20, before it went on to win the Big East Tournament and the NCAA championship last season.

Inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 2021, Driscoll has been a longtime figure in Central New York, including positions with the City of Syracuse, Say Yes to Education and the Boys and Girls Club of Syracuse.