Dan Hurley on UConn's national title loss to Michigan: 'It's tough'

It was a tough, hard-fought game, perhaps tougher and harder than many analysts thought it might be. But you couldn’t count out Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies — the team that won two of the past three national championships.

Before Monday.

The Michigan Wolverines buzzsaw came to the national championship game a considerable favorite. But even still, given the UConn aura, especially in the postseason, the maize and blue had to beat the best in order to be the best. After a dominant victory over fellow 1-seed Arizona in the Final Four, while many chocked up Monday night’s game as a sure thing for the Wolverines, they were going to have to earn it.

And they did, winning 69-63, securing a title in the process — the first since 1989.

After the Michigan basketball victory, conquering the season, Hurley, and several UConn players — including former Wolverines center Tarris Reed Jr. — met with the media to discuss the game. Here is everything they had to say.

Opening statement

DAN HURLEY: Yeah, you know, number one, congratulations to Michigan. Just an incredibly talented, incredibly imposing team physically. Obviously, well-coached, great staff. Just overall, just a tremendous university with what they’re able to accomplish in sports. Obviously, for us, it’s tough. Again, we did not come here for watches. We came here for rings.

I’m not real emotional. Players are crying a lot more than I am. It’s hard to be upset with your team. We lost the game because we missed. We didn’t make enough shots. But it’s hard to be upset with your team when they get 22 offensive rebounds versus that team. I mean, that’s just how hard we just played to hold that team to 38 percent from the field.

But obviously, I just thought the guys picking up two fouls in the first half, losing those three guys when we thought had a great chance going to the locker room with the lead, really put us in a bad spot. But, you know, it’s hard to be disappointed in your team when they fight so hard.

Tarris, can you share with us a little bit about that moment you shared with Dusty May and some of the other guys on the Michigan sideline?

TARRIS REED JR.: Yeah, I mean, after the game, it was just a whole bunch of emotions flowing through. Just, you know, like playing the school that I literally came in with. So I just remember Coach May recruited me out the portal. I saw some of my old guys, old teammates, just talking to my guy, Will Tschetter, Harrison, Nimari. Yeah, just chopping it up, man, like we came a long way. So I know it sucks to be in this position, but through wins and losses, just thank the Lord for it all. You know, big man of faith, big man of belief in Jesus, and everything happens for a reason.

Solo, you knew that this was going to be a physical game when you get the two fouls in the first half, but then early in the second half, pick up the two fouls. Just how frustrating was it to sit there for 10 minutes in the national championship game and watch?

SOLO BALL: Yeah, it’s tough. Even going into this game, a lot of people thought I wasn’t going to play. So, I mean, I don’t know what other motivation there would be to be playing the national championship game and playing with this great group of guys that we’ve had so much fun this year with. And it’s definitely frustrating not being on the court for that long and hurt my team at the moment. But, I mean, this has been the most fun year of my life, like with this group of guys. And I just cherish this team.

Dan talks a lot about a warrior mentality within the team. You finished the night in your final college game with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and a double-double. How do you assess your performance in the game overall?

ALEX KARABAN: You know, that’s great and all, but I care about winning. I care about winning. I want to do everything. I have done everything in my power to help this program win. I want to do everything every time I step on the night and give it my all. And, you know, for a coach to play me 40 minutes, I can’t thank him enough. That’s all I wanted. That’s all I wanted was to give everything I got, leave everything I got out there, and try to do everything to help us win. And, you know, we came up short, missed some shots we normally make, but, you know, we gave it our all. So, you know, I’m proud of these guys to my left. I’m proud of the guys in the locker room. I’m proud of coach. And, you know, it’s going to sting, but like Tarris said, everything happens for a reason.

What are you going to remember about playing with Alex the most? And kind of, you know, he went out 17 and 11. What did you just think of how he finished despite not winning?

SOLO BALL: Might cry up here just talking about the impact he’s had in the locker room, just throughout every single practice, every single game, he’s just always there. And he’s the same person every single day. He doesn’t change. Incredibly smart. Great guy off the court. I’m going to miss this guy so much. He’s going to make so much noise. And I know he’s deserving of everything that’s coming his way just because of how hard he works.

TARRIS REED JR.: Yeah, I mean, that man down there just, man, it’s tough. He’s like the most passionate, competitive, loyal person I’ve ever met, man.L ike just the love he has for the game, the love he has for us. Just a leader. I mean, I’ve never met a person like AK that shows up every day, despite good game, bad game, bad day, good day.I mean, getting yelled at by the coach, getting yelled at by us. But every day, he’s an everyday guy. This guy’s going to show up whenever for his team. And like I showed tonight, I mean, he gave it his all. Just a true heart of a champion.

The end of a college career is inevitable. Everyone has an expiration date. You knew this moment would come. But you played it out to the last minute of the last battle. Just what are your thoughts? I mean, what are you thinking? What’s going through your mind right now?

ALEX KARABAN: Yeah. You know, blessed that I’ve been able to wear this jersey for the longest amount of time as possible. The max amount, the max amount of minutes, the max amount of games this season. I came back ultimately to win. Fell short, you know. So it hurts right now. It hurts a lot right now. But I’m just reminding myself right now that, you know, when I came into UConn, how much I’ve grown. And I’m ultimately leaving UConn at a better place right now from where I started. So I gave it everything I got. I gave it my heart. I gave everything. All I thought about was UConn basketball every single day. And for it to, now that I’m leaving and for UConn to be one of the best brands in college basketball and to be at the top, you know, I left it better than when it started. So, you know, I’m most proud of that.

Two years you spent at UConn, it seems like you certainly got a lot out of it in basketball development and personal development. What have these last two years, this chapter of your life, meant to you?

TARRIS REED JR.: Man, I thank the Lord for it every day. I mean, it wasn’t easy choosing UConn the first time and just choosing UConn to come back again out the portal. So I give all thanks to the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and thanks to the man that left me, Coach Hurley.I mean, just recruiting me out the portal, coming back a bad Michigan year, and he saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself. So, I mean, top of my head, Ecclesiastes 7-8, better as it ended than the beginning, man. So just looking back at the whole journey I’ve had, the journey with these guys, I mean, I’m going to miss it.So, like I said, the Lord does things in mysterious ways, and I got all my tears out just busting me in the position I am in today. And I love these guys for life. They’re my brothers for life.

Dan, you said you weren’t emotional. It looks like you’re starting to get there, but how do you balance the pride that you have in those guys and this team this year with the sadness that comes with the end of it?

DAN HURLEY: Um, yeah, I’m not… I mean, like I said before, it’s like… It’s hard to be…to have a level of disappointment where literally it just, you know, obviously it just came down to we just, we didn’t make enough shots in the basket. You know, like, to be able to, you know, keep that team, you know, under 40% from the field, 38%. You know, this team has destroyed everyone they faced in this tournament. Again, your team gives you 22 offensive rebounds or that’s how hard, you know, how hard we played. And just, you know, just what the group has been able to overcome through, you know, just throughout the year, the growth, the way they played in March. I mean, you know, like to…Just the whole experience that this team has given, you know, the coaches, the fan base, you know, to play to the last, you know, to be one of the last two teams standing. You know, I know a lot of people talk about, hey, it’s better off losing the first game in the Final Four than losing in the championship. That is the biggest bunch of…It’s the biggest bunch of crap of all time. It’s such a bull…

Stuff.

DAN HURLEY: It is. I mean, it’s like this is where you want it to be. You know, listen, it hasn’t set in yet. You know, on the flight tomorrow, it’ll set in on the bus ride back. You know, eventually it’ll hit you that you were, you know, you were close to pulling off, you know, what would have been a historic, historic third championship. But just this team just gave us so much this year, you know, just didn’t make enough shots.

Dan, how do you sum up what Alex has meant to your program the last few years and his contributions?

DAN HURLEY: Okay, so now they’re crying. No, no, I mean, come on. This guy changed my life, the staff’s lives, the joy he’s brought to the university, the fan base, his decision to come to UConn.

You know, it’s made us to, you know, Florida won the national championship last year. I’ll probably get in trouble for this. Michigan won the national championship this year.

You know, but he’s helped make UConn, I think, right now, we’re probably the premier program in college basketball right now. You know, having been to three or four national championship games, having won two of them. He’s put UConn in that rarefied place in college basketball.

Everyone owes everything to that guy, and I figure let me just play him into the ground one more time with just one more 40-minute game for Alex. Let me just play that guy into the ground one more night like I have throughout his career. He deserved to play 40 minutes.

Where does this Michigan team rank for you in terms of the most difficult opponents that you’ve played in your career?

DAN HURLEY: Well, you know, it’s one of the better teams that I’ve played, you know, certainly since I’ve been a college basketball coach now. Like when I was back at Rhode Island, I coached against an Arizona team with Aaron Gordon and Hollis Jefferson and Nick Johnson and T.J. McConnell. I’ve coached against some teams with a lot of good players.

I mean, they’re legit. I mean, they definitely deserve to win the national championship. They’re clearly the best team in the country this year.

They’re just so hard to score against at the rim. I could talk about the threes that we missed, and I thought we had a lot of good threes that we missed. But they just made it so tough on us around the rim. I mean, there was probably what even got us more than the missed threes was some of those rim shots, solos, transition basket. I think they cut it to four. Could have put some serious game pressure on them.

They changed so many shots around the rim. They were just so tall.

Coach, we’ve talked about Alex Caravan, what he’s meant to this program, but Luke Murray, long overdue, getting a head coaching job. You’ve been with him since the Wagner days. Just talk about what he’s meant to this program and just to you over the years.

DAN HURLEY: Luke’s like a brother. We’re both very similar. I mean, we’re both hard to work with. We’re very similar, though. We’re like the same person, and we’re both bald. He’s a brother. I mean, he’s worked with me at every place I’ve been. We’ve made each other better. We’ve got a deep friendship, and, you know, Boston College is about to have a renaissance in basketball.

Dan, how much did the officiating change the game? I mean, just it seems very inconsistent from first half to second half and touch fouls.

DAN HURLEY: Hey, listen, that’s an all-star group there. I mean, Kip, you know, Kip and Jeff, I mean, you know, obviously, and James, who we’re familiar with as well. Yeah, I just, it’s such a physical game.

I mean, Michigan is so physical. I just thought, and again, it’s not the reason why we lost the game. Obviously, you know, plus 13 at the free throw line, plus 12 in attempts. I just thought that the first half foul trouble, you know, really, I thought we were positioned, if we didn’t have that foul trouble, to potentially go into the halftime with a lead. You go in with a lead, you know, and they make a run, you’re down five instead of 11. You know, but we also, too, you know, a problem for our team has been undisciplined fouling, you know, at times.

But, you know, it’s hard to ref that game. We both played so hard. I mean, that’s not an easy, you know, game to officiate. And, you know, if I could have those three guys ref, you know, every game the rest of my career, I would sleep well at night.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Transcript: UConn Dan Hurley on national championship loss to Michigan

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Dan Hurley on UConn’s national title loss to Michigan: ‘It’s tough’