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Dan Hurley and Rick Pitino Simultaneously Received Technical Fouls in Heated Moment

The UConn and St. John’s coaches exploded at the same time.

Patrick Andres

Dan Hurley and Rick Pitino Simultaneously Received Technical Fouls in Heated Moment
Dan Hurley and Rick Pitino Simultaneously Received Technical Fouls in Heated Moment /
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In ordinary years, the Big East men’s tournament is a combustible atmosphere, with 11 basketball-crazed fan bases gathering at Madison Square Garden for a competition with a legendary pedigree.

This, however, is no ordinary season.

Friday’s first quarterfinal in New York featured two teams with something to prove: UConn, attempting to defend its 2023 national title under combustible coach Dan Hurley, and St. John’s, finding its way in coach Rick Pitino’s debut season. The Huskies’ massive Big Apple-based fan base only added to the intrigue.

With a little over eight minutes left in the first half, the tension between UConn and the Red Storm boiled over.

First, Pitino was given a technical for arguing a foul call.

Then, Hurley—one of precious few modern coaches mercurial enough to match wits with Pitino—incurred a technical foul while pleading for the officials to kick a fan out of the game.

Fox announcer John Fanta shared a courtside view of the entire episode.

Seemingly undeterred by the back-and-forth, the Huskies took a 52–47 lead into the intermission.

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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