Dan Hurley is back in the Final Four for the third time in four years and is on one of the most dominant runs in college basketball history, at least in the non-John Wooden department. It took him some time, but he’s built a juggernaut in Storrs, Connecticut, and whether or not he adds another title to the trophy case at UConn this year, his teams will be remembered most for how they flip the switch in the NCAA Tournament, and how you just can’t kill Dan Hurley.
In 2023, UConn entered the tournament as a No. 4 seed after a midseason lull and steamrolled its way to the national title. In 2024, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the Huskies would win it all, and they did so in even more convincing fashion than the year before. Maybe more impressive, though, is how difficult Hurley has been to beat in the tournament the last two seasons, with considerably more imperfect teams.
In 2024, Hurley whiffed on his Transfer Portal addition at point guard, bringing Aiden Maheny from St. Mary’s to replace Tristen Newton. Maheny never adapted to the physicality of the Big East and was mostly phased out of the rotation by March. Still, the eight-seed Huskies gave Florida everything it could handle in the Round of 32 and nearly knocked off the eventual national champions.
This season, the Huskies limped into the tournament. In March, they had already blown a share of the Big East regular season title with an inexplicable home loss to Marquette in the regular season finale and gotten blown out in the Big East Tournament title by St. John’s. Still, you just can’t kill Dan Hurley, at least not without a serious fight. And when you have him down, you can’t give him life.
Sunday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., Hurley taught Jon Scheyer that lesson the hard way. UConn clawed back from 19 points down in the first half to rip Duke’s heart out with a 35-foot game-winner from Braylon Mullins that will go down as one of the greatest shots in tournament history.
Still need more proof that you can’t kill Dan Hurley in March? Here you go:
- UConn is 17-1 in the last 3 tournaments, only loss by 2 to the eventual national champion, Florida, as an eight-seed
- UConn started 1-18 from three vs. Duke. Went 4-5 on last five, including 35-foot game-winner
- UConn’s offensive rating jumped from 93.6 in the first half to 147.5 in the second half, and Duke’s offensive rating fell from 142.0 to 93.6. That’s a swing of 101.9 points per 100 possessions in UConn’s favor (per CBBanalytics.com).
- Duke’s win probability reached as high as 98.7% with 1:33 remaining in the first half.
- Braylon Mullins was 0-4 from three in the game prior to his game-winner. He was also 2-9 for the weekend, 4-23 in the tournament, and 9-53 in March.
- After trailing by 19 in the first half, UConn made 53 percent of its shots in the second half and committed only one turnover.
- No. 1 seeds were previously 134-0 when leading by 15 points or more at halftime. Duke was previously 27-0 in the NCAA Tournament in such situations (according to ESPN Research)