NEW YORK — The No. 18 UConn Huskies defeated No. 8 Gonzaga 77-71 in a Hall of Fame Series event held at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, led by an impressive performance from Liam McNeeley, who contributed 26 points to the victory.

Alongside McNeeley, Tarris Reed Jr. scored 12 points, while Jaylin Stewart added another 10 for the Huskies, who now hold an 8-3 record under coach Dan Hurley, marking his 300th career victory.

For Gonzaga, Khalif Battle was notable with 21 points, followed by Ryan Nembhard with 16 points and Michael Ajayi adding 14. The Bulldogs are now 7-3 this season and have a historical record of 2-6 against UConn in previous matchups.

UConn started strong, racing to a 13-2 lead at the beginning of the game and taking a 43-40 advantage into halftime. Gonzaga managed to tie the game at 55 with consecutive three-pointers from Battle and Nembhard, but UConn responded with a 10-point run shortly thereafter.

With just over three minutes remaining, Ajayi narrowed the score to 73-70 with a three-point play; however, Nembhard’s shot to tie the game did not go in. A critical moment came when Alex Karaban secured a layup just as the shot clock expired with a minute left, helping UConn maintain the lead.

In terms of notable highlights, Gonzaga has now lost two consecutive games, marking their first such streak since December 2018, and their shooting performance slumped in the second half as they managed only 35.5%, missing six layups or short jumpers.

UConn’s Samson Johnson was taken out of the game after hitting the floor hard while attempting to block a layup by Battle, adding to their challenges throughout the night.

Looking ahead, UConn will kick off their Big East schedule on Wednesday, hosting Xavier in Hartford, while Gonzaga returns home to face Nicholls State on the same day.