UConn head coach Dan Hurley says his team will never compete in a three-game multiple-team event (MTE) again after going 0-3 at the Maui Invitational and finishing in last place.
"I'm not doing another three-game MTE again," Hurley told the Hartford Courant's Joe Arruda. "Moving forward, we will only play home-and-homes or single-game events ... I don't think I'll ever do a three-game MTE again. There's zero chance I ever do that again."
No. 2-ranked UConn lost all three games in Maui to unranked schools: Memphis, Colorado, and Dayton. The Huskies had won 17 consecutive games ahead of their loss to Memphis, and a late technical foul on Hurley cost them the game.
The game was tied when UConn's Liam McNeeley was called for an over-the-back foul that Hurley disagreed with. He berated the referees, earning himself the technical.
"I had a lot of issues with what went on out there in the game," Hurley said postgame, according to The Associated Press. "That over-the-back call at that point of the game, there was no attempt to block out. There was a player on Memphis that made a half-assed effort to rebound that basketball, and Liam McNeeley high-pointed that rebound. For that call to be made at that point of the game was a complete joke."
Memphis' PJ Carter went on to make all four free throws, two for the personal foul and two for the technical to put Memphis ahead for good.
"It was a jarring week," Hurley told Arruda. "It was a humbling week. It knocked us on our butt pretty good."
The back-to-back national champions snapped their losing streak Saturday with a win over Maryland Eastern Shore. They return to action Wednesday against No. 17 Baylor.
