Dan Hurley didn’t like how the refs were letting Zach Edey play Monday.
And Edey didn’t like hearing Hurley complain about it.
The UConn coach and Purdue national player of the year seemingly barked at one another as tensions ran high early during UConn’s 75-60 win over Purdue in the national championship game.
As Hurley yelled toward the referees in the first half, Edey, walking back to the Purdue bench, chirped at the Huskies’ coach, who, of course, did not back down.
It made for an unusual scene of an opposing coach and player confronting one another.
While Hurley is known for disagreeing with calls, it seemed that non-call on a screen by Edey set off this chain of motions.
How the referees handled Edey was one of the big storylines entering the game since Edey is known for inducing fouls from other players.
In the first half of Monday’s game, Edey set a phsycial screen on UConn guard Stephon Castle, which knocked the projected lottery pick to the floor.
Moving screens are actually quite a hot topic in the state of Connecticut at the moment.
Anyway, Hurley did not appreciate the referees allowing Edey to set that screen.
“Yo, what the f–k is that?” Hurley yelled at referee Roger Ayers, per The Athletic.
During the next television timeout, Hurley walked onto the floor, pointing to the floor while appearing to yell at the referees.
Edey heard Hurley, turned his head and fired back. Hurley then turned his head toward Edey and seemingly responded to Purdue’s big man as he walked off the court.
It made for entertaining theater in what proved to be another UConn blowout.
While Edey had a monster game to cap a all-time tournament performance, leading all players with 37 points and 10 rebounds, he received little help in what turned into a two-on-five game.
Only one other Purdue player, Braden Smith, reached double-digit points, and the Boilermakers became the latest victim of a historically good UConn juggernaut.
