National Basketball Association
Connecticut 79, Fairfield 71
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 22, 2011
Where: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Officials:
# Michael Stephens, # Gene Steratore, # Earl Walton
Attendance:
13821
By SportsDirect Inc.
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).
Top Game Performances
| Fairfield |
|
Connecticut |
|
Rakim Sanders 20 |
Scoring |
Shabazz Napier 24 |
|
Derek Needham 6 |
Assists |
Ryan Boatright 5 |
|
Ryan Olander 8 |
Rebounds |
Andre Drummond 9 |
|
Jamel Fields 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Shabazz Napier 8 |
|
Derek Needham 2 |
Steals |
Andre Drummond 4 |
|
Ryan Olander 2 |
Blocks |
Andre Drummond 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Fairfield
|
71 |
40.6 |
12-27 |
7-9 |
17 |
27 |
2 |
6 |
12 |
| Connecticut
|
79 |
53.8 |
7-11 |
16-21 |
12 |
34 |
4 |
9 |
12 |
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