6 days Ago
NEW YORK – Liam McNeeley made himself at home in Madison Square Garden Saturday night as UConn fans stuffed the building they call “Storrs South” for a high-level matchup against No. 8 Gonzaga that lived up to the hype. The Huskies’ touted freshman lived up to his own hype as well, engaging with the crowd as he led the 18th-ranked UConn men to a 77-71 victory in the Hall of Fame Series, their fourth in a row.
On an off night for Alex Karaban, and with Samson Johnson out injured for most of the game, McNeeley poured in a career-best 26 points on 7-for-13 shooting, adding eight rebounds and four assists. Tarris Reed Jr. provided 12 points and six rebounds, and Jaylin Stewart adding 10 points off the bench.
Hassan Diarra had seven assists. Gonzaga got 21 points from Khalif Battle, who made four 3-pointers, 16 points and seven assists from point guard Ryan Nembhard and 14 points from Michael Ajayi, who didn’t miss from the field. UConn has beaten the Zags three times in the last three years.
UConn started the game with Diarra finding Johnson for a lob dunk to get the MSG crowd, significantly favoring the Huskies, going. Johnson dunked again and McNeeley scored seven points, including a straight-on 3-pointer, during an early 11-0 run. Turning defense into offense quickly, Ball triggered pandemonium in the Garden when he rose up for a two-handed dunk in transition, forcing Gonzaga coach Mark Few to call his first time out less than three minutes in.
Johnson went down around the 11-minute mark and was laying face down on the court before trainer James Doran helped him up. Hurley waved on the crowd when Johnson got to his feet and “Sam-son John-son” chants rained down as he went to be checked out in the locker room. He returned to the bench a few minutes later but never re-entered the game.
Nearly perfect from the field to start the game, making 6 of its first 7 shots, UConn went cold and made just three of its next 12 attempts. Meanwhile, Battle scored eight points in a row for Gonzaga and a 10-3 run over five minutes – a 3-pointer from Stewart mixed in – gave the Zags a 21-20 lead. Diarra found Reed inside for a three-point play to end a scoring drought of over four minutes and put the Huskies back ahead, 23-21, with eight minutes before the half.
Karaban and McNeeley put together a 6-0 run in the final minute and a half, but Nembhard made a layup at the buzzer to make the score 43-40, UConn, at the half. UConn had to turn to little-used sophomore center Youssouf Singare after Reed picked up his third foul early in the second half with Johnson hurt on the bench. Singare, 6-foot-10, held his own and had Hurley pumped up after his second offensive rebound in three minutes, though McNeeley’s open 3-point shot was no good.
The Huskies struggled to hit open shots, particularly in the second half when they started 4-for-15 from the field and just 1-for-9 from beyond the arc. Battle and Nembhard went back-to-back from 3 for a quick 6-0 run to tie the game at 55 with just under 12 minutes to go. But Stewart, who has had his moments in the Garden , made the Huskies’ fourth 3-pointer of the game (their 18th attempt) and tacked on an acrobatic, fadeaway layup for a personal 5-0 run after the media timeout.
The momentum stayed on the Huskies’ side as McNeeley dished off to Reed for a dunk and Diarra flipped it back to McNeeley for an open 3-pointer in transition, putting the Huskies up 10. Gonzaga started to claw back but McNeeley continued to keep them at an arm’s distance. Karaban made a layup at the end of the shot clock to put the Huskies up five with 59 seconds left, raising the decibels in the building.
McNeeley put the game away with a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left. UConn wrapped up its nonconference slate with an 8-3 record and begins Big East play with Xavier at the XL Center at 7 p.m.
on Wednesday..
