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 and finished with 11 points as the Huskies iced the game from the foul line. Samson Johnson had 13 points for UConn (6-3), the two-time defending NCAA champion.
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 to give 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 twice led by 11 before the Huskies began to chip away. Mahaney drained a pair of 3s and later assisted on Johnson’s layup. Four consecutive free throws by Johnson gave UConn a 31-28 advantage.
A driving layup by Jeremy Roach with 21 seconds left put Baylor up 37-36 at halftime.
Roach exited with 15:41 remaining due to an apparent injury and did not return.
UConn played its second consecutive game without leading scorer Alex Karaban as he recovers from a concussion.
Baylor freshman VJ Edgecombe sat out with a hamstring injury.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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