GLENDALE, Ariz. – Andrew Hurley caught the ball with space behind the 3-point line, 6.4 seconds left in UConn’s Final Four game against Alabama on Saturday. For the last 10 NCAA Tournament games, the coaches’ son was the one to dribble out the clock. It had become one on a long list of his dad’s superstitions.

He held the ball, pivoted around, and was fouled by Alabama’s Mark Sears with 0.3 seconds left until the reigning champs officially punched their ticket back to the national championship game.

“The guy fouled the (expletive) out of him,” Dan Hurley said as he accepted the Naismith Coach of the Year award the next morning. “So then we had to take it out and the guy kind of ruined it for us.”

Greek sophomore Apostolos Roumoglou was the inbounder and tossed the ball to freshman Jayden Ross. Andrew called for it urgently but as soon as the ball hit Ross’ hands the buzzer sounded.

“It was Sears that did that. But I don’t remember that play…” Dan Hurley said.

The last two years coaching his son have been unforgettable.

Hurley was emotional on several occasions surrounding the Huskies’ Senior Day ceremony, thinking of how this season could be his last with his son, Andrew, waiting at the end of the bench until he subs in as the Huskies’ human victory cigar. Last year, as UConn raced through the NCAA Tournament, Andrew was the one to dribble out the clock and toss the ball into the air as the confetti dropped.

Now, as a senior, Monday’s national championship game could be his last wearing the UConn jersey.

“He humanizes me a little bit,” Dan Hurley said Sunday as he prepared for the much-anticipated matchup against two-time Player of the Year Zach Edey and No. 1 Purdue. “I don’t know what he does in the locker room when I’m on like a heater and I’m being a complete brutal ass to everybody. I don’t know if he goes in the locker room and endears himself to these guys by crushing me and saying, ‘Yeah, he’s the worst,’ or if he goes in there and says, ‘Hey guys, he loves you, he just cares.’ I don’t really know what’s going on back there. I don’t know if these guys will tell me either before it’s over.”

Andrew has been a connector between his fiery coach of a dad and his teammates, who have all embraced his presence.

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