STORRS – The No. 25 UConn men's basketball team (6-3) picked up its biggest win of the young season, topping No. 15 Baylor (5-3) by a score of 76-72 in the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle on Wednesday night in front of a capacity crowd of 10,299 at Gampel Pavilion. Liam McNeeley led the Huskies with 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, helping Connecticut rally from a double-digit first half deficit to take the back-and-forth affair.

The Huskies went to the half down a point after a hot-shooting start for the Bears, but clamped down in the second half to turn the tide. UConn took the lead with a McNeeley putback less than three minutes into the first and never trailed from there, staving off a high-powered BU attack that pulled even or got within a possession on several occasions.

The win for UConn was its 33rd-straight home non-conference victory, a streak dating back to 2019. It was also Connecticut's 30^th win in its last 31 games overall inside Gampel Pavilion and its 13^th-straight in Storrs.

Samson Johnson scored 13 points in support of McNeeley and Solo Ball added 11. Aidan Mahaney had nine big points off the bench including a trio of clutch 3-pointers, while Hassan Diarra finished with nine and a game-high seven assists. For Baylor it was Robert Wright III, McNeeley's high school teammate last season at Montverde Academy, leading all scorers with 22 points. Norchad Omier added 14 points and seven boards for BU, while Josh Ojianwuna grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

How it Happened

The Bears took the early advantage, scoring the first seven points before McNeeley got the Huskies on the board with a three-point play. After the Huskies got back within one, a 10-0 run for Baylor gave them a double-digit advantage at 17-6 at 12:59 of the opening stanza.

UConn again punched back, and back-to-back 3-pointers from Mahaney forced a BU timeout at 9:40 with the score within three at 21-18. Later in the frame a 9-0 run for Connecticut gave the Huskies their first lead, going up 31-28 at the 2:49 mark. At the half, Baylor held a slim 37-36 advantage.

The Bears scored the first bucket of the second half before an 8-0 run for the Huskies capped by five-straight from McNeeley gave UConn a 44-39 lead, its largest of the day, at 16:57. The two sides dug in, and back-to-back buckets from Baylor tied the contest at 52-all and prompted a UConn timeout with 10:44 to play.

The Huskies responded from the timeout with the next six points, going up 58-52 and forcing another Baylor stoppage in the process. Ahead of the U-8 timeout Mahaney drilled his third 3-pointer and put the Huskies up 61-54, their largest lead of the night.

A McNeeley 3-pointer at 5:20 made it 64-57, before Baylor called for time which became the final media after pulling within two at 64-62. The Huskies pushed it back to two possessions, and with 1:07 to play Jaylin Stewart came up a clutch steal before UConn called for time leading 68-64. Ball hit a pair of clutch free throws on the ensuing trip, and despite Baylor's best efforts at a late rally Stewart and Diarra were able to salt away the game from the charity stripe.

Inside The Numbers

• UConn shot 45.7 percent (21-46) from the floor and 32.0 percent (8-25) from distance, while Baylor finished 49.1 percent (27-55) from the field and 35.3 (6-17) from 3-point range
  • In the second half, UConn shot 50.0 percent from the floor and held Baylor to a 42.4 percent mark after BU shot 59.1 percent in the opening stanza
  • The Huskies finished 26-of-33 (78.8 percent) from the free throw line compared to a 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) performance from the Bears
• The Huskies dished out 14 assists on 21 field goals, led by seven from Diarra against one turnover
• Connecticut turned it over only seven times and turned a +3 turnover margin into a 21-12 edge in points off miscues
• The Huskies were out-rebounded slightly, 30-29, and out-scored in the paint 40-24
• UConn recorded seven blocks against two for BU, with McNeeley posting a career-high three rejections while Johnson and Tarris Reed Jr. each swatted two

News and Notes

• UConn is now 2-0 all-time against Baylor, meeting for the first time since 1965
• The Huskies conclude the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle series with a 2-2 record
• Mahaney scored his 1,000^th career point with a first half 3-pointer
• Johnson scored a season-high 13 points on 4-4 shooting and grabbed four rebounds
  • He has notched his first two double-digit scoring outings of the season in UConn's last three games
  • Johnson is averaging 10.0 points per game over his last four contests on 17-of-19 (89.4 percent) shooting
  • For the season, Johnson is connecting on 82.4 percent from the field
  • Johnson was a team-high +18 in 22 minutes 
• Diarra's seven assists tied a career-high for the fifth-year
• Ball has scored in double-figures in all nine games of his sophomore season after doing so three times as a freshman
• UConn is 19-7 over the last three seasons in ranked match-ups
• It was the third time in program history UConn has hosted a team ranked No. 15 at Gampel – they are now 3-0 in those contests (2013 and 2019 vs. Florida)
• The Huskies were without leading scorer Alex Karaban for the second-straight game due to a head injury suffered in Maui

Up Next

The Huskies head to Texas on Sunday, Dec. 8 for a road test with the Longhorns. Tip-off in Austin is set for 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT.