UConn Men's Basketball

McNeeley delivers historic performance as UConn wins at Creighton

By Aman Kidwai

February 11, 2025

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UConn men’s basketball traveled to Omaha for the fifth time since joining the Big East and left with a win, 70-66, for the program’s first victory at No. 24 Creighton. Freshman Liam McNeeley played the starring role, finishing with 38 points (12-22 FG, 5-10 3FG) and 10 rebounds to spearhead a comeback and wrest control of the game down the stretch. He also set a UConn freshman scoring record in the process.

McNeeley hit a quick three for the Huskies’ first points and also hit two free throws for the game’s final points to secure the win after grabbing a rebound when Creighton attempted to intentionally miss from the line. In between, he was nailing threes and finishing tough drives while also managing some point forward responsibilities as UConn’s guard health has been in rough shape.

Hassan Diarra is dealing with knee issues that caused him to come off the bench instead of his usual starting role and not play a minute in the second half. Solo Ball was playing with a wrap on his non-shooting wrist as he finished with 11 points. Both were not their usual selves on this night, while Aidan Mahaney got two early fouls and also had a quiet night.

Creighton was looking like the much better team early, finding open looks offensively and notching a decisive free-throw advantage while frustrating the Huskies on the other side. UConn managed to stay close despite not playing its best but it looked like the home team was poised to win this one comfortably, especially as a late first-half run pushed the lead into double digits.

Tarris Reed Jr. and Samson Johnson also got to two fouls early, leaving UConn with staff shortages at ballhandler and in the low-post. At times Alex Karaban had to guard Creighton’s 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner due to the foul troubles and, ostensibly, Dan Hurley’s desire to keep his best players on the floor.

Still, the Huskies were putting some stops together and held Creighton without a basket for the last three minutes of the first half. Based on the foul trouble, injury woes, another cold shooting night for Karaban, and the raucous crowd at the CHI Center, it seemed lucky for UConn to be down merely eight at the half, 37-29, thanks to a 6-0 run at the end.

That run continued into the second half, beginning with seven straight UConn points including a McNeeley three to cut the lead to one. He hit another three to give Dan Hurley’s squad its first lead, 48-46, with 11:26 left, and quickly added another three and a steal-and-dunk to make it a seven-point Husky lead. He later hit a deep three with 7:26 left to give the Huskies their largest lead of the night, 58-50.

It was the Liam McNeeley Show, and we were lucky to see it. He and the Huskies did a nice job of keeping their composure late to hold on for the win.

Karaban once again did not have his best shooting night, missing all seven of his three-point attempts and the front end of a one-and-one in the final minute that could have iced the game. He did hit a running floater in the final minute with the game tied to give UConn a two-point lead and still finished with 10 points and six boards.

Next up, the Huskies are on the road again, at Seton Hall on Saturday. Tip-off is at 2:30 p.m. on FOX. The Pirates are a downtrodden bunch this year, ranked 212^th in KenPom with a nine-game losing streak going into Saturday’s matchup.