See what Dan Hurley said after UConn's national championship loss
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This NCAA tournament run vaulted Dan Hurley's name up with some of the greatest in men's college basketball.
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But when the often-fiery UConn men's basketball coach walked to the postgame podium after the Huskies' 69-63 loss to Michigan in the National Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Hurley was measured.
"I'm not real emotional. The players are crying a lot more than I am," Hurley said. "We lost the game because we missed. We didn't make enough shots. It's hard to be disappointed with your team when they fight so hard."
Hurley entered play vs. Michigan on Monday, April 6, with a .800 career winning percentage in March Madness (20-5 record), which ranked as the highest among active coaches, and third-highest in college basketball history (minimum 15 games), only behind San Francisco's Phil Woolpert (13-2, two national titles) and UCLA's John Wooden (47-10, 10 national championships).
UConn drops to 6-1 all-time in the national championship game, with titles in 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023 and 2024.
A victory over Michigan would've joined Hurley together with six other coaches NCAA history with three or more national titles -- UCLA's John Wooden (10), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (5), Kentucky's Adolph Rupp (4), Indiana's Bob Knight (3), North Carolina's Roy Williams (3) and UConn's Jim Calhoun (3).
The Huskies were led by four double-digit scorers in the defeat -- Alex Karaban (17), Tarris Reed Jr. (13 points, 14 rebounds), Braylon Mullins (11) and Solo Ball (11). Karaban and Reed Jr. received all-tournament team honors. Michigan's Elliot Cadeau, the Most Outstanding Player, scored 19 points in the title-game triumph.
In the national championship loss, UConn shot 21-for-68 from the field and 9-for-33 from beyond the arc. Michigan went 21-for-55 from the field and 2-for-15 from deep, a mark offset by shooting 25-for-28 from the free-throw line.
Said Hurley, "The whole experience this team has given the coaches, the fanbase. ... To be one of the last two teams standing, a lot of people talk about being better off losing in the Final Four than losing in the championship, it's the biggest bunch of crap of all time. This is where you wanted to be.
"Eventually it'll hit you that you were close to pulling off what would've been a historic third championship, but this team gave us so much this year. Just didn't make enough shots."
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Dan Hurley speaks on UConn basketball loss to Michigan in championship