A star is born: UConn’s Liam McNeeley embraces ‘nice first expertise’ enjoying at MSG

Michael Cohen

Faculty Soccer and Faculty Basketball Author

NEW YORK — He tapped the rebound to himself and absorbed a foul with 20.4 seconds remaining, setting in movement the lengthy, celebratory stroll from one finish of Madison Sq. Backyard to the opposite as an appreciative fan base acknowledged the job was practically full. All that separated No. 18 UConn from a 3rd consecutive victory over a high-major opponent — having already upended then-No. 15 Baylor and Texas earlier this week — had been two free throws from true freshman Liam McNeeley, a budding star for head coach Dan Hurley and the Huskies’ shining protagonist on an evening when the courtroom shimmered with future professionals. He buried the primary and drilled the second to protect his crew’s 77-71 win over eighth-ranked Gonzaga and stabilize a marketing campaign that briefly teetered.

“He was nice tonight,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few stated when requested about McNeeley. “He actually, actually was. And hear, UConn is — god, they only have the center of a champion, man. Danny [Hurley] sort of brings that out of them. We knew it was going to be a bodily fist struggle, principally, and I believed we had been as much as that process. They simply made a pair extra of these baskets.”

Lots of which had been credited to McNeeley, the previous five-star recruit and one-time Indiana commit who poured in a career-high 26 factors on the brightest stage of his younger profession, igniting an overwhelmingly pro-UConn crowd on an evening when a few of his extra skilled teammates struggled. That the Huskies turned so incessantly to McNeeley, a baby-faced teenager who scored 11 of his crew’s last 24 factors, in such a raucous and high-pressure atmosphere mirrored the long-term potential Hurley sees for his crew, which is chasing a 3rd consecutive nationwide title. To see him anchor the offense by making seven of 13 pictures from the sector and hitting 10 of 12 makes an attempt from the free-throw line — all whereas snagging eight rebounds and meting out 4 assists by pick-and-roll alternatives — encapsulated the sort of wide-ranging affect usually reserved for upperclassmen.

And the Huskies wanted all the things McNeeley gave them to offset the heinous taking pictures of main scorer Alex Karaban, who missed all seven of his makes an attempt from past the arc; the concussion to beginning middle Samson Johnson, who had “began that sport in simply electrifying vogue,” as Hurley described it, with an alley-oop on the opening possession and a one-handed lefty jam shortly thereafter; and the foul bother for impression sophomore Solo Ball, who failed to succeed in double-figure scoring for the primary time all season.

“His efficiency tonight ought to shoot him to the highest of any of those lists I see of the perfect freshmen within the nation,” Hurley stated, “as a result of he is doing it at each ends. He is doing it on the backboard. He is not [relying on] quantity scoring. And there is a lot strain on him as a result of he is our second-best participant subsequent to Alex.”

A few of that strain got here from the legions of UConn supporters who streamed by Grand Central Terminal within the hours earlier than tipoff, flooding into the town on Metro-North Railroad automobiles sweltering from the physique warmth of standing-room-only crowds — chunks of which had been bedecked in vacation garb for SantaCon NYC. For many years, Connecticut residents have made these semi-annual pilgrimages to high-profile video games at Madison Sq. Backyard, be that for the Massive East Event in early March or marquee regular-season matchups, like Saturday night time’s Corridor of Fame Sequence towards Gonzaga. So frequent are the Huskies’ appearances and triumphs on this storied constructing that the fan base has dubbed it “Storrs South” in reference to the college’s campus in Storrs, Connecticut. Final yr’s crew, which completed 37-3 general and captured this system’s second consecutive nationwide championship, gained all seven instances it performed at MSG by a mean of 14.3 factors per sport.

On Saturday, a call-and-response chant echoed by the practice station’s underbelly as followers poured into Manhattan: “UConn!” somebody screamed. “Huskies!” these round him shouted again. And on and on it went. The sector hummed with comparable expectations as Connecticut welcomed Gonzaga into the liquored-up fray. Almost 19,000 followers, a lot of whom had clearly been imbibing for hours by the point they reached the world, reworked the venue into what felt like a UConn house sport. They booed when the Bulldogs jogged onto the courtroom for last warmups at 7:41 p.m., forcing the general public handle announcer to shout over them for the visiting introduction. They booed once more when a pregame video celebrated Gonzaga’s pedigree below legendary head coach Mark Few, who has been on the helm since 1999. However when the digicam panned to UConn’s gamers and coaches linked arm in arm throughout an electrical rendition of the nationwide anthem, the group roared with delight.

“It was like a prize struggle,” Few stated.

And that was precisely the sort of backing Hurley pleaded for after his crew’s beautiful losses on the Maui Invitational, the place the Huskies arrived ranked second within the nation and had been swiftly felled by Memphis, Colorado and Dayton on consecutive days. Upon returning to Connecticut, Hurley used his postgame information convention following a 99-45 thumping of Maryland Japanese Shore to request “grace and endurance and simply unbelievable assist” from UConn followers who’d come to count on near-perfection amid back-to-back nationwide titles plagued by lopsided outcomes. The usual Hurley and his employees had been holding the gamers to hadn’t modified — the Huskies are nonetheless chasing a three-peat — however shedding two stars to the NBA lottery in Stephon Fort (No. 4 general) and Donovan Clingan (No. 7 general), plus two extra veterans who earned two-way contracts in Cam Spencer and Tristen Newton, meant it could take the Huskies some time to reconfigure.

However because the supporting solid propelled UConn to a fourth consecutive victory on Saturday, the progress Hurley is making turned more and more clear. There have been essential contributions from sophomores Jaylin Stewart (two 3-pointers) and Jayden Ross (two assists, one rebound, one steal). There have been crucial minutes from Michigan switch Tarris Reed Jr., whose 12 factors had been buttressed by six rebounds and three blocks. And there was the revelatory brilliance of McNeeley, the No. 18 general participant within the 2024 recruiting cycle, whose 4 free throws and acrobatic layup within the waning minutes nudged Connecticut forward for good.

Which is why it felt so apropos that Saturday’s sport ended the best way it did: with McNeeley dribbling out the ultimate few seconds of a win he’d largely fueled.

“I had by no means performed within the Mecca earlier than,” McNeeley stated. “But it surely was a fantastic, nice first expertise.”

Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and basketball for FOX Sports activities with an emphasis on the Massive Ten. Comply with him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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