During his tenure as head coach of the UConn Huskies, Dan Hurley has certainly embraced the troll persona he’s seemingly acquired from opposing teams’ fans. That persona was on display during UConn’s 78-70 exhibition win against the Michigan State Spartans when Hurley blew a kiss in response to Spartans fans heckling him from the stands as he was giving his postgame interview on the court with the Big Ten Network.

Amid a chorus of boos that rained down Dan Hurley from the Michigan State student section following the game, the UConn coach simply stated that the preseason environment was a great tune up for the real thing in a couple of weeks, as per The Field of 68.

“This is so great for both teams,” Hurley said. “This feels like a conference game. The physicality, it’s really heavyweight sparing.”

Both the Huskies and the Spartans are coming into the new season ranked in the top-10 in the preseason AP men’s basketball poll. UConn is in the top-five at No. 4, while Michigan State came in just outside that group at No. 6. Both teams are expected to be contenders for the NCAA championship this year.

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In UConn’s case, the Huskies are looking to get back to the national championship game following a disappointing defeat last season at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines. This will also be Hurley’s ninth season at the helm as head coach.

During that time, Hurley has led the Huskies to back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024. In the last four years, they’ve only failed to reach the Final Four in one season.