Shabazz Napier led the way with 24 points, six rebounds and four assists as No. 9 Connecticut survived a late charge from visiting Fairfield to secure a 79-71 victory on Thursday.

Jeremy Lamb added 18 points and Andre Drummond collected 16 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies (10-1), who have won 65 straight games against fellow schools from Connecticut.

The Huskies dominated the first half, using a 26-9 run to take control and cruising into the break with a 46-26 edge.

Fairfield slowly chipped away in the second half, using a 3-pointer from Rakim Sanders to pull within 65-59 with 5:47 left. The momentum seemed to be fully in the Stags’ favor a minute later, when Ryan Olander dunked over his young brother, Huskies forward Tyler, keeping it a two-possession game.

Fairfield had a chance to cut it to one point, but Sanders missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:39 left. Connecticut made them pay, when Ryan Boatright came down and buried a 3-pointer. Another missed jumper for Fairfield and a transition dunk by Lamb pushed it to 77-69 with 49 seconds to play.

Sanders finished with 20 points and eight boards to lead the Stags (7-5).