STORRS – The UConn men’s basketball team has moved past Saturday’s gut-punch of a loss at Marquette, which cost it a share of the Big East regular-season title and restirred the national conversation around coach Dan Hurley’s sideline behavior after his late ejection.
There was a crisp new poster on the easel at the Werth practice facility that displayed the Big East Tournament trophy, not yet mauled in frustration and held together by tape like the regular-season version had been. “It’ll be beat up by the time we get to New York,” Hurley assured.
Hurley was fined $25,000 for his “aggressive confrontation” with referee John Gaffney after there wasn’t a foul called on Silas Demary Jr.’s chance to tie Saturday’s game in its final seconds. It appeared on the TV broadcast as he was instantly ejected that he’d gotten so close to Gaffney that he might’ve made physical contact, which ran wild on social media, though the Big East office said its review could not confirm that he had, so there was no suspension.
Hurley wore a hat with a black sheep on it as he spoke to local media after Tuesday’s practice.
“I love animals” – Dan Hurley, in his Black Sheep hat pic.twitter.com/zzvUgEBrSd
— Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) March 10, 2026
“I love animals, I’ve always been an animal guy,” the Huskies’ coach said, noting that the hat was from one of his favorite Instagram accounts, “Nature is Metal.”
“It’s always been UConn versus the world,” he went on. “For me, just the game … the only thing I’ll say about that is, I would hope moving forward we just get to a point where we get an official’s report, kind of like the NBA when there’s something that happens at the end of the game, just having an official’s report would be a good thing. Getting too close to an official, getting really, really close to an official like I did, like really, really close. … But if you see the official’s report, I didn’t touch the official. And I don’t think that the referees are going to cover for me. I might not be the guy that the refs are gonna cover for, nor is the league going to cover for. That’s never been the case.”
As for whether the fine was just, Hurley wasn’t going to offer an opinion.
“Hopefully the fine goes to a good charity, a deserving charity,” he said. “You can look at it two ways. I guess you could say this is a lifetime achievement award of all the ones over the years, or you could say to yourself, ‘What is the precedent with other coaches last year or this year, or what has happened with other disciplinary things?’ But that’s for the people to decide. I’ve moved forward with the team.”
Other losses this year, only three of them, have lingered around the team. Players may not have been so eager to speak, still dwelling on the disappointment of the previous game or exhausted from the film session and practice.
But there was no dark cloud hanging over Storrs on Tuesday. It was sunny, 70 degrees, and the mood inside the facility reflected it with sights set on a new goal.
“Coach really set the tone for us this week,” said center Tarris Reed Jr. “Coach walked in, he kept it real. We watched film Sunday, it was brutal, as it should be, and then the next day he was like, ‘Yo, we gotta leave this behind. A lot of teams in the country wish they had the year we had, we’re still in a great position.’ I know it didn’t end like we wanted it to, we had a championship just right there, which does stick with you. I feel like that’s a chip on our back, especially for me, like now you know what it’s like to lose something you’ve been working for all year.
“It’s like this weird, uncomfortable, indescribable feeling that you just want to go (into Madison Square Garden) and really just dominate and just win, take everything in the tournament. It starts game one, and we’ll be ready.”
Jaylin Stewart out for Big East Tournament
UConn will be without junior forward Jaylin Stewart for the Big East Tournament, Hurley revealed on Tuesday. Stewart missed the last three games of the regular season with what was described as right knee inflammation. He was seen on crutches last week and did not travel with the team to Milwaukee on Saturday.
Hurley said there is hope that, if there are no setbacks, he will potentially be able to play during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s a big loss,” Hurley said. “You can see with him out, Alex (Karaban’s) minutes are up to an untenable situation. We thought that Jaylin would be available for that game in Milwaukee, so it just gives us a little more time to work on a couple of different lineups. … Being able to play two bigs together, certain matchups it makes sense, and now we’ve had this whole week to kind of practice. Last week I don’t think we were really prepared for Jaylin missing.”
Stewart has been a valuable part of the Huskies’ depth, playing 17.7 minutes per game and averaging 4.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists, most of his impact not represented on the stat sheet.
“He’s so selfless on the court, he just makes plays sometimes that help us really win games,” Reed said. “Losing him, it really has to be next man up. Train has to keep on moving, we know Stew’s gonna hop back on soon, hopefully he gets back for the NCAA Tournament. We’re gonna need him… It’s tough for my guy Stew, praying for him, hopefully we get him back for the tournament. Praying for his health and a speedy recovery.”
