EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsUConn coach Dan Hurley downplayed his bizarre interaction with an official at the end of Sunday's historic NCAA tournament victory against Duke, saying he thought the veteran referee was looking to "chest bump me to celebrate."UConn completed one of the biggest comebacks in NCAA tournament history when freshman Braylon Mullins drained a 35-foot 3-point attempt to give the Huskies a 73-72 lead with 0.4 seconds remaining in their Elite Eight game against the Blue Devils.In the immediate aftermath of Mullins' shot, cameras showed an elated Hurley walking away from the UConn bench area and appearing to bump heads for a few seconds with official Roger Ayers, before both men continued to walk in opposite directions.Hurley, addressing the now-viral incident during an interview this week with the "Triple Option" podcast, said Ayers is an "easy guy to work with" and denied that there was any animosity between the two of them during the game."Really, at that point in the game, we had it won," Hurley said. "And (Ayers is) such an easy guy to work with during the game, that I thought he was coming over to chest bump me to celebrate the shot."Hurley was not called for a technical foul, and UConn ultimately won after Duke's desperation inbounds attempt was denied, securing the Huskies' eighth Final Four trip and their third in four years under Hurley.The NCAA announced its 11 officials for the Final Four on Monday, one day after UConn rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Duke in the tournament's East Regional final.Specific game assignments were not included in the NCAA's announcement, but the list of officials did not include Ayers, who has officiated seven Final Fours, including last year's.Hurley referred to Ayers as a "cool-ass ref," adding that they had positive interactions throughout the game."It's not like that for me with him," Hurley said. "My experience with him has been -- we haven't won every game, I haven't agreed with every call. But in no way was that me and a ref that I had been at their throat the whole game."There were other points in the game where I had my arm around him, walking out of a timeout, we were cracking jokes and laughing."ESPN's Seth Greenberg said on "SportsCenter" that he spoke Monday with Ayers, who told Greenberg that "nothing happened" with Hurley. Greenberg, a former longtime college basketball coach, added that Ayers "literally didn't know what I was talking about" and said that the interaction with Hurley was "absolutely nothing."Hurley told the "Triple Option" that Ayers was approaching him to inform him how much time remained on the clock after Mullins' miracle shot."He was just coming up to tell me there was 0.3 (seconds) -- 'I think there's gonna be 0.3 or 0.4 on the clock,' is what he was saying to me," Hurley said. "And I was still so hyped from the shot going in."Hurley, who has a combative history with officials, was ejected from a regular-season game earlier this month against Marquette after making contact with referee John Gaffney in the closing seconds.UConn will play Illinois in the first Final Four game Saturday in Indianapolis, followed by the other national semifinal between Michigan and Arizona.
