NEW YORK (AP) — Liam McNeeley scored 26 points for No. 18 UConn, which fended off a series of rallies from No. 8 Gonzaga to earn a 77-71 victory Saturday night in a Hall of Fame Series game at Madison Square Garden.
Tarris Reed Jr. scored 12 points and Jaylin Stewart Added 10 for two-time defending champion UConn (8-3) as head coach Then Hurley‘s 300th victory.
Khalif battle had 21 points, Ryan Nembhard finished with 16 points and Michael Ajayi added 14 points for Gonzaga (7-3), which fell to 2-6 all-time against UConn.
UConn opened the game on a 13-2 run and led 43-40 at halftime. Gonzaga tied the game at 55 on back-to-back three-pointers from Battle and Nembhard before the Huskies scored the next 10 points.
The Bulldogs pulled within 73-70 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Ajayi with 3:25 to go, but Nembhard missed a potential game-tying three-pointer earlier. Alex Karaban hit a layup as the shot clock expired with a minute left.
Takeaways
Gonzaga: The Bulldogs, who fell to then-No. 4 Kentucky 90-89 in overtime on Dec. 7, have lost two straight games for the first time since Dec. 9-15, 2018.
UConn: Samson Johnson left with 11:09 left in the first half after falling hard to the ground while trying to block a layup from Battle.
Key moment
Stewart scored five straight points off a UConn timeout, sparking the Huskies’ decisive 10-0 run.
Key stat
Gonzaga shot 35.5 percent in the second half, as the Bulldogs missed six layups or short point-blank jumpers.
Next
UConn opens Big East play Wednesday by hosting Xavier in Hartford. Gonzaga also returns home on Wednesday when the Bulldogs play Nicholls State.
