HARTFORD, Conn. – Fairfield came close to becoming the first team from Connecticut to beat UConn since 1986. A moral victory wasn't what the Stags were looking for.
Shabazz Napier scored 24 points to lead the Huskies to a 79-71 win on Thursday, but only after Fairfield closed a 22-point second half deficit to just three with 2:23 left to play.
"We dug ourselves a sizeable hole against a top 10 team," said Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson. "It's a lot to ask. We asked that of them and the guys battled back, but we lost. At the end of the day, we lost."
Jeremy Lamb added 18 points and freshman center Andre Drummond had 16 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks for the Huskies (10-1), who won their 41st consecutive non-conference game.
Rakim Sanders had 20 points, Sean Crawford 14 and Derek Needham 12 for Fairfield (7-5).
Connecticut led 57-35 and looked to be running away with the game early in the second half.
But a dunk by Ryan Olander and a 3-pointer by Crawford sparked a Fairfield run that also included a big block by Olander on a dunk attempt by his brother, UConn's Tyler Olander.
"It was just kind of set up where we were going to meet at the rim and one of us was going to win," Ryan Olander said. "And I didn't want to lose that one, especially that one."
A 3-pointer by Rakim Sanders cut the lead to 65-59 with under 6 minutes to play and the Stags continued to chip away.
Another 3-pointer by Crawford cut the lead to five — 72-67 — with just over 3 minutes to play, and a layup by Sanders made it 72-69. He had a chance to bring the Stags within two but missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and Ryan Boatright's 3-pointer at the other end extended the lead to 75-69.
"Everybody had confidence in each other," said Sanders. "In the first half, some people hesitated in making some passes. But in the second half, everybody was loose and just had confidence that the next person would hit the shot or make the next play."
No. 8 Connecticut is now 118-4 against New England teams outside the Big East, and has won 65 consecutive games against in-state competition.
Napier hit his first five shots and had 14 points midway through the first half.
Fairfield's Derek Needham hit his first three, all from 3-point range, to keep the Stags close. Fairfield trailed just 14-13 before UConn went on an 11-2 run led by Napier, who had nine of those points.
A pair of 3-pointers from Lamb made it 40-24 Huskies. An alley-oop from Napier to Drummond, followed by Drummond's third steal and dunk of the game gave UConn a 46-26 halftime lead.
Ryan Olander finished with eight points and eight rebounds. His brother Tyler had just two points for UConn. The brothers played together at E.O. Smith High School adjacent to the UConn campus in Storrs.
The Olander family sat in the stands wearing T-shirts that read "''FairConn" on the front, with the family name on the back and the words "Either Way We Win."
Fairfield also came into the game on a four-game winning streak, and trailed for just a minute and a half during those games. But the Stags never led in this one.
"I think that college basketball is getting to the point where mid-majors are beating Big East teams," said Johnson. "I think these guys know that. We're pretty disappointed and if we weren't, I'd worry about us going into league play."
Connecticut's last non-conference loss was to Indiana on Jan. 20, 2007. UConn has not lost to another team from Connecticut since Calhoun's first season as coach in 1986, a 49-48 loss to Hartford.
Fairfield had held opponents under 60 points six times this season, including their last three games.
The Huskies have now won 19 straight against Fairfield and lead the overall series 29-5.
UConn will play its next three games without coach Jim Calhoun, who will be serving an NCAA suspension for recruiting violations.
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