Kyle Casey had a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds as No. 23 Harvard defeated host Brown 68-59 on Saturday.

Brandyn Curry finished with 15 points and Keith Wright added nine points and 11 rebounds for the Crimson (18-2, 4-0 Ivy), who are off to their best start in more than 70 years.

Harvard took a 31-27 lead at halftime and extended the advantage to 42-27 with 15:51 left in the second after scoring 11 straight points.

Brown (7-14, 1-3) missed its first four shots of the second half and had three turnovers before Sean McGonagill’s 3-pointer with 15:24 left ended the scoring drought.

The Bears didn’t pull within 10 points the rest of the way until McGonagill made a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left on the game’s final shot.

Stephen Albrecht and Andrew McCarthy had 13 points apiece for the Bears, who have lost the last five meetings with the Crimson.

The win was Harvard’s sixth straight since a 60-54 defeat to Fordham on Jan. 3.

Three players - Albrecht, McCarthy and Matt Sullivan - accounted for all of Brown’s first-half points. Sullivan finished with 12.