Rhode Island AD denies coach cursed at Maryland players

After a heated confrontation between Rhode Island's Dan Hurley and No. 2 Maryland's Mark Turgeon during Wednesday night's game at the Cancun Challenge, Rams athletic director Thorr Bjorn has come to the defense of his coach.

The Baltimore Sun and Washington Post both reported that Hurley made derogatory comments involving an expletive toward Maryland players in the postgame handshake line, citing a tournament official. Bjorn released a statement early Thursday morning refuting the reports:

After extensive conversations with our head coach, staff and administrators who were on the floor for the postgame handshakes, and reviewing video of the final moments of the game - including both teams during the handshakes - I am 100 percent confident that neither Dan Hurley nor any member of our coaching staff made any derogatory expletive remarks or offensive statements towards the Maryland student-athletes. Any report, rumor or allegation to the contrary is false.

The Cancun Challenge released a statement concurring with Rhode Island:

Rhode Island is back in action Sunday against Rider, while the Terrapins face Cleveland State on Saturday.