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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga’s Khalif Battle scores 21 points with family, friends watching at Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK – Gonzaga senior Khalif Battle attended numerous NBA games at Madison Square Garden while growing up nearby in New Jersey, but Saturday was his first time playing at one of the world’s most famous arenas.

He made the most of his MSG debut, draining four 3-pointers and matching his season high with 21 points in No. 8 Gonzaga’s 77-71 loss to No. 18 Connecticut.

Thirty of Battle’s family members and friends made the roughly 20-mile commute from his hometown of Hillside to Madison Square Garden, which was packed with 18,933 fans.

“It’s a dream because as a kid my dad and my mom didn’t have much money, so I used to sit in the nosebleed (seats) or we used to win tickets in raffles,” Battle said. “When we won tickets, we sat in the nosebleeds, too.

“I grew up watching Carmelo (Anthony) and I even saw Kobe (Bryant) drop 61 on this court. For me, this is like a dream come true, but I wish we could have come away with a win.”

Bryant’s 61-point effort came on Feb. 2, 2009, leading the Los Angeles Lakers past the New York Knicks and setting an arena record in the process, eclipsing Michael Jordan’s 55 points.

The presence of relatives and close friends made it a special night for Battle, aside from a disappointing final score.

“I definitely had to buy some tickets to get some extra people in here, but I’m happy to see them,” he said. “This is all my family, this is all blood, I grew up with everybody here. Even my friends, they’re brothers to me. To be able to come back and have them support me, it means the world to me.”

Battle hit 4 of 6 3-pointers – his third game with four 3s this season – and snapped out of a 4-for-28 stretch from distance over the previous six games. The 6-foot-5 guard had four rebounds, two assists, one steal and zero turnovers in 38 minutes.

Battle’s first bucket stopped an early 11-0 UConn run. He followed with a pair of 3s to bring Gonzaga within 15-10.

“We got off to such a rough start in the first half, he hit some huge shots to keep us in it and get us over the hump there for a while,” Zags coach Mark Few said. “And then he responded again in the second half. I thought he did a nice job of taking what they were giving him. We put him in a lot of ball-screen actions and he made some really nice passes that we didn’t quite finish, but he made the right decisions.”

GU took its first lead at 21-20, but the Huskies scored the next seven points. Battle checked back in and 16 seconds later connected on another 3 to trim the deficit to 27-23.

When UConn stretched its lead to 50-42 and had the pro-Huskies’ crowd roaring early in the second half, Battle answered with a basket from close range. Battle and Ryan Nembhard nailed back-to-back 3s pulled GU even at 55.

UConn rattled off the next 10 points. The Zags cut it to 73-70 but couldn’t complete the comeback.

“I could have played better, a lot better, but we’re learning,” Battle said.

“It’s early, still December. By January and February, we’ll have a lot more rolling for us. We got a lot of good looks, we just didn’t finish them, including myself. We’re going to learn from it and stay positive.”

Battle made his first five free throws before misfiring on one with 23 seconds remaining, ending his streak of 35 consecutive makes to start the season.

“I was shocked that I missed that,” said Battle, who has made 86.7% at the line in his collegiate career. “That’s definitely going to happen the next game.”