Box Score

NEW YORK – Freshman Liam McNeeley scored a career-high 26 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists to lead No. 18 UConn (8-3) to a 77-71 victory over No. 8 Gonzaga (7-3) on Saturday night in the Basketball Hall of Fame Series New York City at Madison Square Garden. The contest marked UConn’s non-conference finale, first top-10 win of the season and second ranked triumph.

The win was the 300^th in the collegiate head coaching career of UConn head coach Dan Hurley. Now in his seventh season at Connecticut and his 15^th as a college head coach, Hurley racked up 38 wins in two seasons at Wagner, 113 in six seasons at Rhode Island and 149 and counting during his tenure in Storrs. Adding in his 223 wins over 10 seasons as the head coach at St. Benedict’s Prep, Hurley has won 523 games in his 25^th season as a head coach.

UConn has now won 10-straight games in New York City, including its last eight at MSG. The win was also Connecticut’s third-straight in the last three years over Gonzaga, running the all-time series against another of the nation’s top programs to 6-2 in favorite of the Huskies. The Huskies have bounced back from their tumultuous trip to Maui by winning four-straight, including three against high majors, heading into conference play.

McNeeley was the lone starter to score in double-figures, but was joined atop the scoresheet by Tarris Reed Jr. and Jaylin Stewart with 12 and 10 off the bench, respectively. Alex Karaban struggled with his shot from distance but posted eight points and five rebounds including a clutch bucket in the final minutes. Hassan Diarra dished out a team-high seven assists and Solo Ball scored eight.

How it Happened

The Huskies exploded out of the chute, getting the action going with a pair of Samson Johnson slams and sprinting out to a 11-2 start before a Ball dunk in transition forced a Gonzaga stoppage at 17:22. The Bulldogs settled in after the fast start for the Huskies, and a 7-0 run cut the early lead to 20-19 before a Connecticut timeout at 9:47.

A pair of free throws after the stoppage gave Gonzaga its first lead of the contest, one Connecticut re-took quickly with a Tarris Reed Jr. bucket and foul that broke a four-plus minute scoring drought. That sparked an 8-0 run that pushed the lead back to seven. The Bulldogs briefly retook the lead late in the first, but UConn went to the break up 43-40 thanks in part to 13 first half McNeeley points.

The Huskies came out hot again the second half, and a Ball 3-pointer made it 53-44 at the 16:47 mark. Again, Gonzaga fought back, and consecutive triples from the Bulldogs evened the score at 55-all and forced a UConn timeout with 11:51 to play.

Immediately after the stoppage, Stewart went on a personal 5-0 run with a 3-pointer before he hit a circus shot in the paint to give UConn some breathing room back ahead of the U-12 media. The Huskies kept it rolling after the stop, pushing the run to 10-0 with a Reed Jr. flush and McNeeley 3-pointer to force another Gonzaga timeout with UConn up 65-55 and 10:09 on the clock.

The Bulldogs stuck around and were within four before a McNeeley floater pushed the lead back to 73-67 ahead of the U-4 media timeout. Gonzaga pulled back within three inside of the final minute, and with 59.4 to play Diarra found Karaban inside for a layup as the shot clock dwindled to push the advantage back to five. The Huskies would hold Gonzaga without a field goal for the final 3:25 of regulation to seal the six-point triumph.

Inside The Numbers

• UConn shot 45.8 percent (27-59) from the floor but struggled from distance, connecting on 5-of-24 from 3-point range
• Gonzaga finished with a 43.9 percent performance from the floor and 37.5 from deep, but shot 38.7 percent from the floor and 18.8 from three in the second half
• UConn went 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) from the line, while Gonzaga was 15-19 (78.9)
• The Huskies held a slim 35-34 edge on the glasss, led by McNeeley’s game-high eight caroms and six boards from Reed Jr.
• Reed Jr. recorded three of UConn’s four blocks
• The Husky reserves out-scored the Bulldog bench 26-17
• The contest featured four ties and four lead changes, but UConn led for 37:48                           

News and Notes

• UConn is now 6-2 all-time against Gonzaga in series dating back to 1999
• The career-high 26 for McNeeley top his previous high mark of 20 set on Nov. 26

  • McNeeley was 7-of-13 from the floor, 2-of-7 from 3-point range and 10-of-12 from the free throw
  • McNeeley made his first six of the game from the free throw line before a second half miss, snapping a streak of 24-straight hits from the line
  • Per ESPN Stats & Info, McNeeley is the the fourth UConn player to score 25+ without a turnover against a ranked team since 1996-97 and first since Shabazz Napier in 2012
  • He became the first Husky to hit 10 free throws in a game since Tristen Newton in 2022

• Stewart scored in double-figures for the third time this season and the sixth time in his career – in his last three games at MSG, he is averaging 8.7 per game
• UConn went 7-0 at Madison Square Garden and 2-0 at the Barclays Center last season, improving to 10-0 over the last two seasons in New York City
• Hurley is now 14-6 as the UConn head coach at Madison Square Garden
• Overall Hurley is 23-11 in ranked-ranked match-ups at UConn and 20-7 in top-25 games over the last three seasons
• Samson Johnson was injured about nine minutes into the contest and did not return. He was 2-for-2 with four points and two rebounds in six minutes prior to the injury, posting a +12

Up Next

The Huskies begin the BIG EAST gauntlet on Wednesday, Dec. 18, hosting Xavier at the XL Center. UConn is looking to defend both the BIG EAST regular season and Tournament titles this season.