Hurley at peace with how UConn went out in narrow title game loss

INDIANAPOLIS — Dan Hurley wears his heart, and by extension, his emotions, on his chest.

It is included in the total package that makes the UConn head coach equal parts charming and polarizing across the sports world. Those who accept him for who and what he is understand the galaxy from which he comes, and know there is a sense of love and passion attached to the demonstrative, life-and-death stakes at which he competes. Others who care not to learn about why he is the way he is view his atypical comportment as anti-establishment, and frequently gripe about it when given the opportunity.

Hurley was no different Monday night, after his UConn team was upended by Michigan in the national championship game, thwarting the Huskies’ attempt to win three titles in four seasons for the first time since UCLA turned the trick over a half-century ago. In a game where the physicality of the Wolverines caught UConn off guard defensively, leading to several fouls in the first half, one might expect Hurley to raise issue with the game’s officiating. Those concerns were eventually moot, as any perceived slight was replaced by a sense of pride and acceptance in getting a chance to be among the sport’s final two for one night.

“I’ll take how we went out,” he said, calmly embracing his group’s effort. “It was a soldier’s death and we all went out on our shield.”

“It’s a team I’ll never forget, and just grew to love. Your heart breaks for how far the group came. What they were able to deliver for our fans, for our staff, students, for the state, your heart breaks, but that’s the risk you’ve gotta be willing to take.”

Hurley expounded upon that mentality in the book he wrote last season, calling it a fight-or-flight decision in which he always chooses to fight. Together with three seniors playing their final games in Alex Karaban, Tarris Reed, Jr. and Malachi Smith, the Huskies fought. They fought for the final two months of the season, even after suffering their first conference loss after an 18-game win streak.

“This team’s been fighting since February,” Karaban recollected. “Losing to Marquette, losing to St. John’s, people doubted us. People didn’t think we were the same UConn Huskies, but we fought, we battled, and we really came together for this final stretch.”

By his own admission, Hurley can be a complicated individual to get to know. Circling back to his emotional tendencies, the coach admitted he cried on the way into Lucas Oil Stadium, merely being aware of what was at stake. His pride intact, unlike his suit jacket, Hurley smiled as he made his peace with how his players will be remembered in their final battle, staring straight into the eyes of a Michigan team that had left flaming wreckage of everyone in its path, daring it to wreak the same level of havoc.

“It’ll hit me later,” he cautioned. “Right now, it’s like, when you shot as bad as we shot versus that team of destruction, you’re probably supposed to get run off the court. But just how hard that team fought to give themselves a chance, to battle back and have a chance to cut it to four in transition, and put game pressure on them late, how can you be anything but proud? Crushing, but proud?”