NEW YORK – Liam McNeeley felt right at home at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night as UConn fans packed the building they call “Storrs South” for a high-octane matchup against No. 8 Gonzaga that lived up to the hype.

The Huskies’ touted freshman also lived up to his own hype and engaged the crowd as he led the 18th-ranked UConn men to a 77-71 victory in the Hall of Fame Series, their fourth in Consequence.

On a bad night for Alex Karaban and with Samson Johnson out injured for most of the game, McNeeley scored a career-best 26 points on 7-for-13 shooting and added eight rebounds and four assists.

Tarris Reed Jr. added 12 points and six rebounds, and Jaylin Stewart added 10 points off the bench. Hassan Diarra had seven assists.

Gonzaga got 21 points from Khalif Battle, who made four 3-pointers, 16 points and seven assists from point guard Ryan Nembhard, and 14 points from Michael Ajayi, who didn’t miss the field. UConn has beaten the Zags three times in the last three years.

UConn started the game with Diarra finding Johnson for a lob dunk to get the MSG crowd going, well in favor of the Huskies. Johnson dunked again and McNeeley scored seven points, including a straight 3-pointer, during an early 11-0 run. Ball quickly turned defense into offense and caused a stir at the Garden when he stood up for a two-handed dunk in transition, forcing Gonzaga coach Mark Few into his first ejection less than three minutes into the game.

Johnson went down about 11 minutes into the game, lying face down on the field before coach James Doran helped him get up. Hurley waved to the crowd as Johnson stood and chants of “Sam-son John-son” rang out as he got checked in the locker room. He returned to the bench a few minutes later but never appeared in the game again.

When UConn was nearly perfect from the field early in the game, making 6 of its first 7 shots, it went cold and managed only three of its next 12 attempts.

Meanwhile, Battle scored eight straight points for Gonzaga and a 10-3 run over five minutes – mixed in with a 3-pointer from Stewart – gave the Zags a 21-20 lead. Diarra got Reed to a three-point play, ending a scoring drought of more than four minutes and putting the Huskies back in front at 23-21 eight minutes before halftime.

Karaban and McNeeley went on a 6-0 run in the final minute and a half, but Nembhard made a layup at the buzzer to make the score 43-40 UConn at halftime.

UConn had to rely on little-used second-year center Youssouf Singare after Reed picked up his third foul early in the second half and Johnson was on the bench with an injury. The 6-foot-10 Singare held his own and got Hurley going after his second offensive rebound in three minutes, although McNeeley’s open 3-point shot wasn’t good.

The Huskies struggled to make free throws, particularly in the second half when they started 4-for-15 from the field and just 1-for-9 from beyond the arc.

Battle and Nembhard scored a quick 6-0 run one after the other and ended the game at 55:55 with just under 12 minutes left.

But Stewart, who had his moments at the Garden, hit the Huskies’ fourth 3-pointer of the game (her 18th attempt) and added an acrobatic fade-away layup for a personal 5-0 run after the media timeout . Momentum stayed on the Huskies’ side as McNeeley passed a ball to Reed for a dunk and Diarra threw the ball back to McNeeley for an open 3-pointer in transition, putting the Huskies up 10 points.

Gonzaga tried to fight back, but McNeeley continued to keep them at bay. Karaban made a layup at the end of the shot clock to bring the Huskies within five with 59 seconds left, raising the decibels in the building. McNeeley tied the game with two free throws with 20 seconds left.

UConn finished its non-conference schedule with an 8-3 record and begins Big East play Wednesday with Xavier at the XL Center at 7 p.m.