NEW YORK (AP) — Liam McNeeley scored 26 points as No. 18 UConn held off No. 8 Gonzaga’s streak for a 77-71 win Saturday night in the Hall of Fame Series game at Madison Square Garden.
Tarris Reed Jr. scored 12 points and Jaylin Stewart added 10 for two-time defending national champion UConn (8-3) as head coach Dan Hurley300th victory.
Battle of the Khalifa 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 by Battle and Nembhard before the Huskies scored the next 10 points.
The Bulldogs got within 73-70 on Ajayi’s old-fashioned 3-pointer with 3:25 left, but Nembhard missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer. Alex Karaban hit a layup as the shot clock ran out with a minute left.
Takeaways
Gonzaga: The Bulldogs, who fell to then-No. 4 Kentucky 90-89 in overtime on Dec. 7, 2018 lost two games in a row for the first time since Dec. 9-15, 2018.
UConn: Samson Johnson left with 11:09 left in the first half after hitting the floor hard trying to block a Battle layup.
A key moment
Stewart scored five straight points out of a UConn timeout to spark a decisive 10-0 Huskies run.
Key statistics
Gonzaga shot 35.5 percent in the second half as the Bulldogs missed six layups or short plays.
Next
UConn opens Big East play on Wednesday by hosting Xavier in Hartford. Gonzaga also returns home on Wednesday when the Bulldogs play Nicholls State.