STORRS, Conn. — Liam McNeeley scored 17 points and No. 25 UConn came back from an early deficit to beat No. 15 Baylor 76-72 on Wednesday night in the Big 12-Big East battle.

Solo Ball made two late free throws to finish with 11 points as the Huskies closed the game from the foul line. Samson Johnson had 13 points for UConn (6-3), the two-time defending NCAA champions.

Freshman guard Robert Wright III had 22 points, Langston Love scored 16 and Norchad Omier finished with 14 for Baylor (5-3), the 2021 national champion.

Aidan Mahaney hit a 3-pointer and Tarris Reed Jr. had four points in a 10-2 run that gave the Huskies an eight-point lead with 7:48 left after UConn trailed by double digits in the first half.

Baylor scored the first seven points and led by 11 twice before the Huskies began to fade. Mahaney knocked down a pair of three-pointers and later assisted on Johnson’s layup. Four consecutive free throws from Johnson gave UConn a 31-28 lead.

A Jeremy Roach layup with 21 seconds left gave Baylor a 37-36 halftime lead.

Roach left with 15:41 left due to an apparent injury and did not return.

UConn played its second straight game without leading scorer Alex Karaban, who is recovering from a concussion.

Baylor freshman VJ Edgecombe was sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Takeaways

Baylor: The Bears dominated early by driving into the lane and exploiting the perimeter defense woes that plagued UConn in three straight losses at the Maui Invitational last week. They struggled to score when they needed baskets late in the game.

UConn: The Huskies scored 21 points off turnovers and won their 33rd straight home game against non-conference opponents.

Key moment

Reed hit a layup and added two free throws to give UConn a 7-0 run after Baylor tied the game at 52-0.

Key statistics

UConn outscored Baylor at the foul line 26-12, while the Huskies shot 79% on free throws.

Next

The Bears return home to take on Abilene Christian on Monday. UConn plays at Texas on Sunday.

——

Get AP Top 25 poll alerts and updates throughout the season. Sign up here. AP College Basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball