Liam McNeeley stats tonight: How did the UConn star fare vs Gonzaga (Dec. 14)

Five-star freshman Liam McNeeley played his best game of the 2024-25 college basketball season, leading No. 18 UConn to a 77-71 win over No. 8 Gonzaga in a Hall of Fame Series matchup at the Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday night.

The 6-foot-7 small forward showed his full potential, tallying 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes for the Dan Hurley-coached squad, who picked up their fourth straight win and 8-3 overall.

McNeeley, who averages 12.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 10 games this season, made 7 of 13 shots from the field, including 2 of 7 from 3-pointers. He shot 10 of 12 from the free-throw line to lead the offense of the back-to-back defending champions in their last nonconference game of the season.

The freshman became the fourth UConn player since the 1996-97 season to post 25-plus points and 0 turnovers against a ranked opponent (per ESPN Stats Info).

McNeeley scored his first seven points on two jumpers and one 3-pointer in the first 3:31 to hand the Huskies a 13-2 edge. However, Gonzaga made the game more interesting when its shots fell and took the lead 21-20 before UConn responded with eight straight points for a 28-21 edge.

The Bulldogs closed in again and made it 28-26 before McNeeley buried two free throws for a 30-26 advantage. The forward would score four more points on a jumper and two free throws to give the Huskies a 43-38 lead with six seconds left in the first half.

McNeeley opened the second half, making two foul shots for a 45-40 edge. He'd hand off an assist to Solo Ball, who drilled a 3-pointer for a 53-44 lead with 16:47 remaining.

The forward grabbed an offensive rebound off Alex Karaban's miss and made a layup to keep UConn ahead, 55-49. He would record three assists to Jaylin Stewart and Tarris Reed, giving the Huskies a 62-55 lead at the 10:33 mark.

McNeeley then grabbed a defensive rebound off Khalif Battle's miss and buried a 3-ball that handed the Huskies a 10-point lead. Gonzaga would close in again and trimmed the deficit to four but the freshman would make six of UConn's last eight points from four free throws and one layup to preserve the win.

Here are Liam McNeeley's stats in UConn's win over Gonzaga.

Player	MP	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG	3-PT	FT	TO	PF
Liam McNeeley	37	26	8	4	0	0	7-13	2-7	10-12	0	1

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Huskies vs Bulldogs Game Recap: UConn rides on McNeeley's hot shooting to outclass Gonzaga

UConn rode on the hot shooting of freshman Liam McNeeley to hand the back-to-back defending champions to a 77-71 win over Gonzaga on Saturday night at the Madison Square Garden.

The 6-foot-7 five-star small forward stepped up for the Huskies when their starters misfired. McNeeley's 26-point output was his career-high in college basketball, keeping him in the hunt for the best freshman of the year.

The 7 of 13 shooting and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line kept UConn in front and doused cold water on Gonzaga's fiery rallies to preserve the win.

The performance against the Bulldogs is expected to boost the forward's 2025 NBA draft stock and helped him keep pace with fellow freshmen Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey for the possible top three picks in next year's annual event for rookies.

Tarris Reed Jr came off the bench to score 12 points for UConn while Jaylin Stewart added 10. Khalif Battle paced Gonzaga (7-3) with 21 points while Ryan Nembhard added 16.

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