NEW YORK (AP) — Liam McNeeley scored 26 points for No. 18 UConn, which fended off a series of rallies by No. 8 Gonzaga to earn a 77-71 win in a Hall of Fame Series matchup at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
Tarris Reed Jr. scored 12 points and Jaylin Stewart added 10 for two-time defending national champion UConn (8-3) for coach Dan Hurley’s 300th win.
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 the half. Gonzaga tied the game at 55 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Battle and Nembhard before the Huskies scored the next 10 points.
The Bulldogs got within 73-70 on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Ajayi with 3:25 left, but Nembhard missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer before Alex Karaban hit a layup as the shot clock expired with a minute left.
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 exited with 11:09 left in the first half after he hit the floor hard while trying to block a layup by Battle.
Stewart scored five straight points out of a UConn timeout to spark the Huskies’ decisive 10-0 run.
Gonzaga shot 35.5% in the second half, when the Bulldogs missed six layups or short point-blank jumpers.
UConn opens Big East play Wednesday by hosting Xavier in Hartford. Gonzaga also returns home Wednesday, when the Bulldogs play Nicholls State.
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