Liam McNeeley leads No. 18 UConn past No. 8 Gonzaga

Field Level Media|published: Sat 14th December, 23:17 2024

Dec 14, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Connecticut Huskies forward Liam McNeeley (30) celebrates after a timeout is called by the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Liam McNeeley scored a career-best 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds as No. 18 UConn recorded a 77-71 victory over No. 8 Gonzaga on Saturday night at New York.

Tarris Reed Jr. contributed 12 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots and Jaylin Stewart scored 10 points for the Huskies (8-3), who won their fourth consecutive game.

Khalif Battle scored 21 points for Gonzaga (7-3), which lost its second straight game. The Bulldogs lost a week ago Saturday to then-No. 4 Kentucky in overtime. Ryan Nembhard had 16 points and seven assists and Michael Ajayi had 14 points and six rebounds.

Gonzaga star Graham Ike had just three points and no rebounds in 12 minutes while battling foul trouble.

The Huskies improved to 6-2 against the Bulldogs, including a regular-season victory last season and a memorable 82-54 stomping in the Elite Eight of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Alex Karaban narrowly beat the shot clock for a layup to give UConn a 75-70 lead with 59.4 seconds remaining.

Battle split two free throws with 23 seconds left to leave the Bulldogs trailing by four. It was his first missed free throw of the season after making his first 35.

McNeeley made two free throws with 20.4 seconds left to seal it.

UConn shot 45.8 percent from the field, including a shaky 5 of 24 from 3-point range.

Gonzaga made 43.9 percent of its attempts and was 6 of 16 from behind the arc.

UConn led 53-44 after a 3-pointer by Solo Ball with 16:47 left in the game before Gonzaga answered with an 11-2 run. Battle and Nembhard ended the spurt with treys to tie at 55 with 11:59 remaining.

Stewart then scored five straight to start a 10-0 surge by the Huskies. Reed added a dunk and McNeeley drained a trey to give UConn a 65-55 advantage with 10:09 left in the game.

The Zags scored 10 of the next 14 points to move within 69-65 on Ajayi's tip-in with 5:21 left.

A three-point play by Ajayi pulled Gonzaga within 73-70 with 3:25 to go.

McNeeley scored 13 first-half points as the Huskies led 43-40 at the break. Battle had 11 in the half for Gonzaga.

UConn used an early 11-0 run for a 13-2 lead with McNeeley scoring seven during the spurt.

Yet Gonzaga was ahead 21-20 after Dusty Stromer made two free throws with 8:40 left in the half.

--Field Level Media