Dan Hurley didn’t like that the referees let Zach Eady play on Monday.
And Edie didn’t like hearing Harley complain about it.
The university coach and the Purdue player of the year appeared to be barking at each other as tensions rose early in the university’s 75-60 victory over Purdue in the national championship game.
When Hurley yelled at the officials in the first half, Eadie yelled at the Huskies coach while walking back to Purdue’s bench, who of course didn’t back down.
It was a rare scene where an opposing coach and a player faced each other.
Mr. Hurley is known to object to calls, and this appears to have been triggered by Mr. Eadie’s on-screen rejection of the call.
How the referees treated Eadie was one of the big storylines going into the game, as Eadie is known for inducing fouls from other players.
In the first half of Monday’s game, Eady set up a physical screen on college guard Stephon Castle that caused a projected lottery pick to slam to the floor.
In fact, moving screens are a very hot topic in Connecticut right now.
Regardless, Hurley didn’t think highly of the referee who let Eadie set the screen.
“Hey, what is that?” Hurley yelled at referee Roger Ayers. According to The Athletic.
During the next television timeout, Hurley appeared to be on the floor pointing at the floor and yelling at the referees.
Edie heard Harley’s voice and turned her head to shoot back. Hurley then turned his head toward Eadie, seemingly reacting to Purdue’s big man walking off his court.
It made for some entertaining theater that turned out to be yet another blowout for UConn.
Eadie had a monster game, leading all players with 37 points and 10 rebounds, the best in tournament history, but he had little help in the 2-on-5 game.
Only one other Purdue player, Braden Smith, reached double figures in scoring, making the Boilermakers the latest victim of the historically good college union juggernaut.
