Dan Hurley goes viral for head-butt celebration in midst of big UConn win

Boom goes the dynamite!

A hyped-up Dan Hurley head-butted UConn guard Aidan Mahaney after the junior connected on back-to-back attempts from behind the arc as the No. 25 Huskies took down the 15th-ranked Baylor Bears on Wednesday. 

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The dome-on-dome contact, which has been met with a mixture of intrigue and concern, occurred with about ten minutes remaining in the first half. 

The Bears had jumped out to an early 19-8 lead, but a 10-2 streak that included Mahaney’s two three-pointers brought the reigning national champions within three and forced a Baylor timeout. 

As the home fans went into a frenzy and the Bears went to recollect themselves on the sideline, Mahaney strutted up to Hurley. The two shared something between a hug and a chest bump, which was followed promptly by the head-butt.

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“Then [Mahaney] punched me in the chest hard … I think I might have cracked a rib,” Hurley quipped after the game. 

Any pain, by then, had been absolved.

After clawing their way back into the game in the first half, the Huskies hardly looked back. The Bears held a tenuous one-point lead when the teams went to their locker room at the break but were outscored 40-35 in the second half.

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Hurley described Mahaney’s nine-point performance after the game by telling reporters, “He rose like a Phoenix out of the ashes,” whilst flapping his hands like wings.

The 21-year-old said of their interaction, “I felt like we were just in that moment, there was nothing planned, that was just natural energy and aggression coming from both of us.”

“This is one of the things that I couldn’t wait to get into over here, having a coach like that, that gets fired up just like the players do,” Mahaney added.

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Fans and detractors chimed in:

“Is this normal?” asked one.

“Dan Hurley skull crush me into another dimension,” wrote another.

In his seventh year leading UConn’s men’s basketball team, Hurley’s Huskies have won six of their first nine — none bigger than Wednesday’s takedown, their first over a ranked opponent in 2024. 

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And this one couldn’t have come at a better time.

UConn went winless at the Maui Invitational, dropping contests against the Memphis Tigers, the Colorado Buffaloes and the Dayton Flyers — all of whom were unranked. Hurley caught some flack during the tournament for his temperament and body language. 

During the 99-97 loss against Memphis, the head coach drew a technical foul for arguing a foul in overtime.

With the win on Wednesday, though, the electric factory that is UConn basketball is just heating up.

Foreheads beware.