NEW YORK – For the third time this season, UConn men's basketball standout Liam McNeeley has been named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, the league announced on Monday (Dec. 16) morning.

The honor for the conference's preseason Freshman of the Year came after the best performance of his career on Saturday in a win over then-No. 8 Gonzaga. McNeeley scored a career-high 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting, adding eight rebounds and four assists without a turnover in his Madison Square Garden debut. He led all players in scoring and rebounding in the 77-71 top-10 triumph, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and going 10-of-12 from the free throw line.

McNeeley became the first UConn freshman to score 25 or more in a game since Daniel Hamilton in 2015 and the third over the last 20 years, joining Hamilton and Jerome Dyson in 2007. He was also the fourth Husky to score 25 or more without a turnover against a ranked opponent in that span and first since Shabazz Napier in 2012. McNeeley's 10 free throws against the Zags made him the first UConn player to hit double-digits from the charity stripe since Tristen Newton in 2022.

This season McNeeley is second on both the Huskies and amongst BIG EAST freshmen in scoring (13.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.1 rpg). He has yet to truly find his outside shooting stroke, connecting at a 33.9 percent clip, but has been a marksman to the tune of an 83.7 percent mark from the free throw line on a team-high 49 attempts. He has added 23 assists, four blocks and five steals thus far through his first 11 games.

McNeeley and the Huskies return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 18 when they open league play at the XL Center against Xavier.