As Connecticut and Creighton played out a critical Big East battle on Tuesday night, the Blue Jays were off to a terrific start and had a 14-point lead in the first half. By halftime, they still had control of the game, but in the second half, UConn freshman Liam McNeely announced himself to the world, finishing with 38 points and scoring at will in order to power the Huskies past Creighton 70-66.
Creighton and UConn Have Been Trending in Opposite Directions
Since a concerning 7-5 start, the Creighton Blue Jays have been on fire. During their 11-1 stretch that began in late December, they have registered multiple 20-point wins against lesser Big East foes and also scored big wins over the conference’s top teams, including a road win at Connecticut earlier in the season, a victory over Marquette last week, and a result against St. John’s, a win that looks better and better with each passing day due to the rise of the Johnnies.
Connecticut has struggled recently and was unranked entering the game at Creighton. Prior to dropping a close game against St. John’s last week, they’ve also had stumbles against Villanova and Xavier. The health of star freshman Liam McNeely is important context for the up-and-down performances, but head coach Dan Hurley is still displeased with where his team is at. Hurley was not afraid to give St. John’s credit for being “way stronger” physically than his team, and has cited better connectivity on defense and limiting turnovers as two areas of focus moving forward.
A sellout crowd in Omaha awaited, and the opportunity to rise to the challenge was there.
Connecticut Faced a lot of Adversity
UConn was just 11-29 in the first half, and really nobody had anything going besides McNeely. He had more points (15) than the entire rest of the team combined (29) in the first half. Solo Ball has been filling in admirably as the top scorer, but a recent injury to his wrist may have hampered him against the Jays. Ball was not his usual self on Tuesday, shooting an ineffective 4-15. Alex Karaban, one of the premier snipers in college basketball, was a revolting 0-7 from deep. Transfer guard Aidan Mahaney was all out of sorts off the bench, unable to provide a spark.
On the defensive end, Connecticut could not stop fouling. Big men Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed Jr. both sat stretches of the first half with foul trouble and by the 14 minute mark in the second half, both players had 4 fouls. Hurley’s squad is not at all used to playing with both Johnson and Reed on the bench, but had to do so for important parts of the game against imposing Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner. Although he was battling illness and was visibly not 100%, Kalkbrenner had an admirable 13 points and 9 boards.
As the second half began, Connecticut needed to shore up the defense and also needed someone to step up on offense. Enter Liam McNeely.
Liam McNeely Had Himself a Legacy Game
McNeely could not be stopped in the second half. He scored 23 more en route to his 38 points on 12-22 shooting. No UConn freshman has ever scored as many points. He made 5-10 treys and also contributed 10 rebounds. He was absolutely dominant down the stretch, and Creighton had no answer for him. Some may have forgotten during his injury absence, but there is no doubt that McNeely is truly one of the best freshman in the country.
Liam McNeeley against Creighton:
🏀 38 PTS
🏀 10 REB
🏀 7-12 2PM
🏀 5-10 3PM
🏀 9-10 FTM pic.twitter.com/J36gslkfeB
— CBB Analytics (@CBBAnalytics) February 12, 2025
McNeely was not afraid to let the crowd know how well he was performing throughout the second half. He was chirping with anyone who would listen, firing himself up and single-handedly powering his team to a massive road win, the program’s first ever at Creighton. After he fittingly iced the game at the free -throw line, he spoke about the pressure of that situation with a understandably high confidence.
I thought the gym was really quiet. You couldn’t hear a peep. They were loud when it was going well, but it died down, the crowd died down pretty fast.
McNeely’s killer instinct was on full display on Tuesday night. It is no wonder that he is a talent that NBA teams will be squabbling over in the early lottery during the 2025 NBA Draft. Connecticut has not been unranked for some time, and after this week, they will likely re-enter the rankings. With better health to close the season, there is nothing stopping this team from having a legitimate shot at defending their back-to-back titles.
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