If the No. 18 UConn men’s basketball team (8-3) wanted to continue its “stairway to seven,” they had to get through the No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs (7-3) first, a team that they faced in the previous two seasons.
The Huskies earned a statement win on Saturday night over the Bulldogs in a clash of two top 20 teams in Madison Square Garden, a place where the Huskies are on a eight-game winning streak dating back to last season.
Samson Johnson won the tip-off and instantly made an impact on the game, scoring the first points with a signature alley-oop dunk. He would quickly break out as an impact player for the first few minutes, following up with a driving dunk.
The Huskies started with a ferocious 11-2 lead, capped off by a Solo Ball breakaway dunk that forced Gonzaga head coach Mark Few to call a timeout before the first media timeout.
Johnson went to the floor hard 11:09 into the game and never returned, meaning Tarris Reed Jr. and Youssouf Singare had to step up if they were to contain the Zags’ frontcourt.
He’s going to go into the [concussion] protocol,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said at the postgame press conference, mentioning that Johnson wanted to go back into the game.
Reed provided support for the Huskies at the center position, scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds in the first half. With Johnson out, he and the rest of UConn’s frontcourt went to work to make sure they were able to contain Gonzaga centers Graham Ike and Braden Huff.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of fighting [Ike] off the spot,” Hurley said following his 300th career win. “I thought we did a good job of trying to take away his right shoulder. When he gets to his right shoulder, he’s a devastating player that way. Their tandem with Huff and Ike is just so hard to deal with.”
Singare was an unsung hero with three rebounds in the second half, two of which were on the offensive glass and easily could have been second-chance points had UConn shot better from perimeter.
The first half ended in favor of the Bulldogs, with former Creighton Bluejay Ryan Nembhard beating the buzzer and cutting UConn’s lead to three points.
Liam McNeeley made his Madison Square Garden debut and did not disappoint for the first 20 minutes, scoring 13 points on 4-6 shooting. He was crucial in both halves in helping the Huskies secure a signature non-conference win, finishing the game with 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists on 7-13 shooting. According to ESPN, McNeeley became the fourth UConn player since the 1996-97 season to post at least 25 points and zero turnovers against a ranked opponent and was the first since Shabazz Napier in 2012.
“I’ve never played in the Mecca before, but it was a great first experience,” McNeeley said. They will be back at the Garden on Feb. 23 to face St. John’s.
Unlike the win at Texas, Alex Karaban did not have a prolific outing offensively, scoring eight points and going 0-7 from deep. Gonzaga has the best 3-point defense in the country, and it showed on Saturday night as UConn shot 5-24 (20.8%) from beyond the arc.
“I thought both defenses were good,” Hurley said. “[Karaban] had a bunch of good ones he missed, so I just think the game was just really intense and it was really physical.”
The second half was full of acrobatic finishes from the Huskies due to the physical, hard-fought nature of the game. Following a 3-pointer by Jaylin Stewart was him doing his impression of Joey Calcaterra’s acrobatic layup (which happened in a win over Georgetown during the 2022-23 season). Later in the game, McNeeley floated up a shot from an awkward angle and managed to find it dropping in for two points.
Huff went for a hook shot with 90 seconds left and had it blocked by Reed. 30 seconds later, Karaban made a layup that extended the lead to five with 59 seconds left, forcing Gonzaga to call timeout.
Nembhard had an easy lane to the rim to cut the game to one possession but missed. Jayden Ross grabbed the rebound and held on for a held ball, with the possession arrow favoring the Huskies.
With Khalif Battle, who had 21 points, missing his second free throw attempt with 23 seconds left, it seemed that the win was in the books for UConn.
McNeeley made both of his free throw attempts with 20 seconds to secure the Huskies’ first top 10 win of the season.
Few described the blockbuster game perfectly after giving kudos to Hurley and the Huskies, calling it an “Elite Eight battle.”
UConn’s non-conference slate is over, with Xavier coming to Hartford to begin Big East play on Wednesday night.