UConn coach Dan Hurley, Tulsa coach Frank Haith ejected after handshake in second half
UConn coach Dan Hurley and Tulsa coach Frank Haith were simultaneously ejected from their game on Wednesday night in an extremely unusual sequence of events at the Reynolds Center in Oklahoma.
Midway through the second half, after Tulsa had built up a 14-point lead, Haith and Hurley were seen arguing with each other and the officials on the sidelines over a foul call. Officials tried to get them to stop, but finally simply assessed each of them a technical foul.
Here is the moment when Haith and Hurley were ejected. https://t.co/ZZo6gu9Nk8
— Jeremie Poplin (@jeremiepoplin) January 17, 2019
The coaches then, seemingly past the incident, attempted together for a handshake — likely an effort to bury the disagreement and move on with the game. That’s when they were both assessed a second technical foul and simultaneously ejected.
My angle of TU's Frank Haith and UCONN's Dan Hurley both getting ejected after a disagreement with referees on a foul call. They started talking to each other and had to be separated. This was Haith's second career ejection @KJRH2HD pic.twitter.com/HnJXCgMbNi
— Jacob Tobey (@JacobRTobey) January 17, 2019
“I don’t know why Frank and I got the first technical,” Hurley told Stadium’s Jeff Goodman after the game. “We were nowhere near confrontational with one another. We glared at each other.
“We were trying to diffuse the situation and shake hands, and got the second technical and were ejected. I don’t feel this was handled correctly and should be looked at by the league.”
Haith shared Hurley’s point of view.
“It didn’t warrant us both being ejected,” Haith told Goodman. “Both of us are competitors who were fighting for our teams. Could have been defused.”
Hurley called out the officials and urged action from the American Athletic Conference after the game, too, calling the whole incident an “embarrassment.”
Hurley: “That was bad. An embarrassment for the league, embarrassing for me and Frank, and our programs and universities. Even though I believe that that’s on the officials and the way they handled it, I’d like to apologize to the university and the fans for that."
— David Borges (@DaveBorges) January 17, 2019
Hurley: “Some things need to be done from the league office on this one. When I’m wrong, I’ll take it. I’ll take my technicals, I’ll take my ejection at the Garden. I’ll take that and eat it. I was wrong then. But that was a complete overreaction, and then an escalation.”
— David Borges (@DaveBorges) January 17, 2019
The officials, per David Borges of the New Haven Register, explained after the game that the first double technical was for “unsportsmanlike behavior.” The second was for “continuing to violate” that rule.
Tulsa held on to its lead to take an 89-83 win behind a career-high 27 points from Jeriah Horne.
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Report: Tourney nixes Ball’s team after $10K request
• Bob Costas announces his NBC career is over
• Deion Sanders has some advice for Heisman winner
• ’96 World Series MVP charged with child sex abuse
