OMAHA, Neb. — UConn freshman star Liam McNeeley hadn’t played in front of a crowd as hostile as the one the Huskies faced in Omaha on Tuesday night. He found the environment inspiring.
In what coach Dan Hurley called one of the best performances all season in college basketball, McNeeley scored a career-high 38 points while willing the Huskies to a 70-66 victory over No. 24 Creighton.
“I had a blast,” McNeeley said. “Energy feeds energy, and I was feeling it.”
Some of his motivation was drawn from the Creighton students, who have heckled Hurley unmercifully since UConn started making annual trips to Omaha when the school rejoined the Big East in 2020.
“A lot of student sections have started chanting a three-word chant before the game, during the game, during timeouts,” McNeeley said, referring to vulgarities directed at Hurley. “A shot at Coach is a shot at the team, so it gets me fired up.”
The 6-foot-7 McNeeley, playing his second game since returning from an ankle injury that sidelined him for eight games, is having to adjust to playing a point-forward role with point guard Hassan Diarra battling a knee injury that limited him to eight minutes against the Bluejays.
McNeeley opened UConn’s scoring with the first of his season-high five 3-pointers on 10 attempts. He was 12-of-22 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds.
“I was pretty confident once I got my first shot off,” he said.
Hurley said McNeeley makes UConn a top-10-or-12 team in the nation when he’s healthy and in rhythm. UConn went 5-3 without McNeeley and this week dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since the start of the 2022-23 season.
“He’s going to be a top-10 [NBA draft] pick,” Hurley said. “No freshman has had a more impressive performance in this type of environment against a team like that.”
McNeeley was at his animated best when he hit back-to-back 3s and dunked off a steal as the Huskies took their first lead midway through the second half. When Creighton called a timeout, McNeeley pumped his right fist and screamed at fans behind the UConn bench. Then he turned to the Creighton student section and waved his arms.
The night ended with McNeeley pulling down the rebound, getting fouled and making two free throws with 4 seconds left. By then, fans were heading to the exits.
“I thought the gym was really quiet,” he said. “You couldn’t hear a peep. They were loud when it was going well, but the crowd died down pretty fast.”
