Dick Vitale says Cooper Flagg's ex-teammate Liam McNeeley is the key reason teams want to avoid facing UConn in March Madness

UConn Huskies forward Liam McNeeley just placed his stamp on college basketball after his awe-inspiring performance on Tuesday against the No. 24 Creighton Bluejays. With his stellar play that led to the 70-66 conference win, the Dan Hurey-coached squad improved to a 17-7 overall record, 9-4 in the Big East.

Playing 38 minutes, McNeeley scored 38 points on a red-hot 12-for-22 clip, which is more than half of UConn's total score, to go along with 10 rebounds, an assist and a steal. This was a welcome sight for the freshman, as it was his return game from injury after seemingly being taken over by fellow rookie and former Monteverde Academy teammate Cooper Flagg of the Duke Blue Devils.

For basketball analyst Dick Vitale, this served as the wake-up call for all contending college basketball teams in the national tournament.

"Teams r not going to want to see their name vs @UConnMBB⁦⁩ come @MarchMadnessMBB ⁦ - one key reason a healthy LIAM McNEELEY. Just ask @BluejayMBB. In HS who did he play with? They were a Dynamic Duo! via @ESPN App," Vitale captioned his report on X.

Vitale, of course, is talking about Flagg, who is highly touted as the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft. While there isn't much indication as to whether or not McNeeley will declare for it as well or stay put with Hurley's program, he still has made his case to be at par with Duke's rising star.

On the campaign, McNeeley is averaging 15.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while Flagg is tallying 19.8 markers, 7.6 boards, 4.0 dimes, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks a contest.

Dan Hurley hints that Liam McNeeley might declare for the NBA Draft

During the postgame presser, Dan Hurley gave Liam McNeeley all sorts of praise, from commending him for his outing to sharing how much of an overall impact the first-year forward has on the squad.

"He's going to be a top-10 [NBA draft] pick. No freshman has had a more impressive performance in this type of environment against a team like that."

The UConn Huskies return to action on Saturday, Feb. 15, against the Seton Hall Pirates on the road where they hope to get their national ranking back by winning their 18th overall game of the season.