In defeat, Dan Hurley did something stunning Monday night
Fast-break points from the post-college basketball blues:
21. Dan Hurley. In his personal comportment, the Connecticut men’s basketball coach often seems more volatile than Kīlauea, the Hawaiian volcano.
20. An NCAA Tournament final surprise. After Hurley and UConn fell 69-63 to Michigan in Monday night’s NCAA Tournament championship game, the Huskies head man did something stunning: He lost with grace.
19. Hurley: Hail to the victors. The Connecticut coach was generous in his praise of Dusty May’s victorious Wolverines. “They’re legit. They definitely deserved to win the national championship. They are clearly the best team in the country this year,” Hurley said.
18. Didn’t kill the refs. Even though UConn was whistled for 22 fouls to 13 by Michigan and the Wolverines shot 28 free throws vs. 16 for the Huskies, Hurley described Monday night’s officiating crew as “an All-Star group. ... It’s such a physical game. Michigan is so physical. (The officiating) is not the reason we lost the game.”
17. Did Hurley learn from Geno Auriemma’s meltdown? One wonders if the UConn men’s coach made a point of tempering his postgame reaction to a Final Four loss after seeing the loutish display the Connecticut women’s coach put on after his team fell to South Carolina on Friday night in the Final Four?
16. All-time men’s college basketball wins race. No. 1 Kentucky entered the 2025-26 season with an eight-victory edge, 2,422 to 2,414, over No. 2 Kansas. North Carolina, 2,395 wins, and Duke, 2335, entered this past season in third and fourth place, respectively.
15. Kentucky. The Wildcats won 22 games in 2025-26 and will enter next season with 2,444 all-time victories.
14. Kansas. The Jayhawks compiled 24 wins this past season and will enter next year with 2,438 all-time victories.
13. North Carolina. The Tar Heels also won 24 games in what turned out to be Hubert Davis’ final season as coach. UNC will take 2,419 all-time wins into 2026-27.
12. Duke. Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils were the big movers in the all-time wins race in 2025-26 with 35 victories. Duke will enter next season with 2,370 all-time wins.
11. The count entering next season. Kentucky will open next year with a six-win edge over Kansas, a 25-victory advantage over North Carolina and a 74-victory lead over Duke.
10. NCAA Tournament wins. Over the past 10 renewals of March Madness, only seven Division I men’s basketball programs have won 20 NCAA Tournament games or more. How many of those programs can you name?
9. The super seven. Starting in 2016, the men’s hoops programs with at least 20 NCAA tourney victories are, in descending order, Gonzaga 26; Duke 24; Michigan 22; North Carolina 22; Houston 21; Kansas 21; and Villanova 20.
8. Near misses. Just short of 20 NCAA Tournament wins since 2016 are Connecticut and Purdue, which each have 19 March Madness victories in that span.
7. Good’ol Rocky Top. If you are wondering, Tennessee, with 15, has the most men’s NCAA tourney victories among SEC schools since 2016. The Volunteers are followed by Alabama 14, Arkansas 13, Florida 13, Kentucky 13 and Auburn 11.
6. Ashton Feldhaus. Inheriting a Morehead State women’s basketball program that had gone 10-20, 5-15 in the OVC in 2024-25, Feldhaus led the Eagles to an 18-15 mark, 13-7 in the OVC this past season.
5. A rising star in women’s hoops coaching. Feldhaus, once a standout player at Madison Central High School, has been named the new head women’s hoops coach at McNeese. The former McNeese coach, Ayla Guzzardo, was just hired as Georgia head coach.
4. Juli Fulks. The former Transylvania University coach directed Marshall to the WNIT title with a 66-41 rout of Illinois State on Saturday before a sold-out crowd in Huntington, West Virginia.
3. A chance to show recruiting chops. Having led Marshall (28-9) to a school record in victories in her second season after leaving NCAA Division III Transy, Fulks will now get a chance to show how effectively she can recruit at the NCAA Division I level. The Thundering Herd will lose six seniors, including star guard Timaya Lewis-Eutsey, from the WNIT champs.
2. Timberlynn Yeast. The former Mercer County High School star was big in Marshall’s drive to the WNIT title. The 5-foot-9 Yeast averaged 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals in five WNIT games and was named to the all-tournament team.
1. Yeast moving on. On Tuesday, Yeast announced she was entering the portal as a graduate transfer with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
