UConn's Hassan Diarra: Late Creighton Dunk in Win Was 'Disrespectful to the Game'

Connecticut players took exception to Creighton's Jamiya Neal dunking the ball when the game was already decided in the final seconds of the Bluejays' 71-62 win in the Big East tournament semifinals on Friday night.

Huskies guard Hassan Diarra, in particular, was unhappy and showed it by shoving Neal, resulting in a brief skirmish between the two players.

Diarra told reporters afterward he found Neal's actions to be "disrespectful to the game" because the result was already secure.

"I mean, they were already up with seven seconds left," Diarra said. "He didn't want to dribble the ball out. Went in for a fancy dunk. I just felt it was disrespectful to the game of basketball."

Neal did issue an apology during his postgame press conference, attributing the dunk to getting caught up in the heat of the game:

"I got caught up in the emotions of the game. Just a lot of emotions going on. So I would like to apologize for that. I respect Coach Hurley and those guys over there. They have a great, great program. ... Yeah, I apologize. Just got caught up in the moment, and I shouldn't have did it."

Trailing 69-62 with 10 seconds remaining, Connecticut's last-ditch attempt to get back in the game ended with a missed three by Alex Karaban. Jackson McAndrew grabbed the rebound for Creighton, with Huskies head coach Dan Hurley signaling to just let the clock run out.

Instead, McAndrew passed the ball to Neal and he sprinted to the hoop for a dunk. After being shoved by Diarran, Neal looked to the crowd and tried to pump up the Creighton fans.

The win sent the Bluejays to the Big East championship game for the first time since 2022. They will take on St. John's on Saturday seeking their first conference tournament title in 12 years.

Despite the loss, Connecticut is projected to be a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament by ESPN's Joe Lunardi.