Liam McNeeley’s career-high 26 points gave the Huskies the advantage over the Bulldogs.
The No. 18 UConn men’s basketball team continues to stack big wins, downing the No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs Saturday night 77-71 at Madison Square Garden in the final installment of the 2024 Hall of Fame Series.
Freshman Liam McNeeley continued to look like the all-encompassing five-star recruit fans hoped he would be, leading the way for the Huskies with 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes played.
The back-to-back national champion Huskies have a knack for playing well when the lights shine brightest, and they certainly did so in the first half. Samson Johnson won the opening tip and promptly dunked home a lob from Hassan Diarra, sending UConn off to the races in a game that certainly felt like March. Behind seven points from McNeeley, UConn jumped out to a lightning-quick 13-2 lead in the game’s first three-and-a-half minutes.
A cold spell from the Huskies allowed Gonzaga to fight its way back into the game, and as UConn’s lead thinned, the Bulldogs seemingly played with more and more confidence. The No. 8 team in the nation began to settle in, most notably guard Khalif Battle, who hit home on three triples in the opening half. He lead the way for his team in the half with 11 points.
Despite some fight from the Zags, UConn was able to keep the comeback at bay even without Johnson, who left the game after falling hard trying to block a shot in the first half. After halftime, It was announced the center would not return, leaving UConn without one of its top big men. In six minutes of play prior to his departure, Johnson tallied four points and an assist.
Neither team could slow down the other’s offense as the half wound down, and each offensive unit began to convert at much more efficient rates. Each team finished the first half shooting over 50% from the floor. After 20 minutes of play, UConn led 43-40, doing so on 15-28 (54%) shooting from the floor, while Gonzaga shot 14-26 (54%). UConn hit on all 11 of its free-throw attempts in the half, but struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 2-8 from three.
Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard continued to be the conductor of the Bulldog offense. The nation’s leader in assists (10.7 per game) prior to the matchup had six of the team’s eight total assists in the first half. In addition, he added on 10 points and two rebounds.
Head coach Dan Hurley had to get creative with his lineups in the second half with Johnson out and his other center options sidelined in foul trouble. Youssouf Singare played seven minutes in the half, contributing some key offensive rebounds that allowed the Huskies second-chance points. With the game tied at 55, UConn rattled off a monstrous 10-0 run, also known as a kill shot, in just 90 seconds, swinging the momentum in its favor.
Despite the win, UConn fought to overcome some glaring miscues throughout the game. Inconsistency on the offensive end kept the Huskies from finding their rhythm, allowing Gonzaga to stay within striking distance of a potential comeback. The Huskies often would surge — like the 13-2 run they fired off to start the game, or the 10-0 run that propelled them down the stretch — but fall flat shortly after. At any point when it looked like the Huskies might put the game away, they would let Gonzaga right back in.
Tough shooting performances from Alex Karaban (3-10, 0-7 from three), Solo Ball (2-7, 1-4 from three) and Hassan Diarra (2-8, 0-4 from three) also made it difficult for the offense to find its flow. As a team, UConn shot just 5-24 from beyond the arc, good for 20.8% — its worst clip in a game this season thus far.
Behind McNeeley, Tarris Reed Jr. and Jalyin Stewart had 12 and 10 points, respectively. For the Bulldogs, Battle finished with 21 points. Nembhard trailed him with 16 points and seven assists and Michael Ajayi contributed 14 points (6-6 from the field) and six rebounds in 24 minutes.
Offensive woes aside, it is a huge win for the Huskies, who have now won four-straight games since dropping three in a row at the Maui Invitational in late November. UConn will take this momentum into the first game of conference play, when it takes on Xavier Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 7:00 p.m. in its Big East opener in Hartford at the XL Center.