A star is born: UConn's Liam McNeeley embraces 'great first experience' playing at MSG

NEW YORK — He tapped the rebound to himself and absorbed a foul with 20.4 seconds remaining, setting in motion the long, celebratory walk from one end of Madison Square Garden to the other as an appreciative fan base recognized the job was nearly complete. All that separated No. 18 UConn from a third consecutive victory over a high-major opponent — having already upended then-No. 15 Baylor and Texas earlier this week — were two free throws from true freshman Liam McNeeley, a budding star for head coach Dan Hurley and the Huskies' shining protagonist on a night when the court shimmered with future pros. He buried the first and drilled the second to preserve his team's 77-71 win over eighth-ranked Gonzaga and stabilize a campaign that briefly teetered.

"He was great tonight," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said when asked about McNeeley. "He really, really was. And listen, UConn is — god, they just have the heart of a champion, man. Danny [Hurley] kind of brings that out of them. We knew it was going to be a physical fist fight, basically, and I thought we were up to that task. They just made a couple more of those baskets."

Many of which were credited to McNeeley, the former five-star recruit and one-time Indiana commit who poured in a career-high 26 points on the brightest stage of his young career, igniting an overwhelmingly pro-UConn crowd on a night when some of his more experienced teammates struggled. That the Huskies turned so frequently to McNeeley, a baby-faced teenager who scored 11 of his team's final 24 points, in such a raucous and high-pressure environment reflected the long-term potential Hurley sees for his team, which is chasing a third consecutive national title. To see him anchor the offense by making