Harvard is good. I
know that actual basketball fans know that Harvard is a team that is on the
map now and will most likely start to represent the Ivy league in the NCAA
Tournament year after year. But, I am sure there are “UConn fans” out there that
see that Harvard is on the schedule and immediately think it is a win. Maybe in years past, but ever since Jeremy
Lin netted 30 points in a 79-73 loss to UConn back in 2009, it seems like
Harvard is always up for a competitive game against the Huskies. This will be no different tonight, as the
Crimson are rolling into Gampel Pavilion with a 13-1 record. Harvard’s one loss was to Colorado, who is
currently sitting at #15 in the rankings with a 13-2 record. The 70-62 loss came back in November, and
Harvard actually held a 12 point halftime lead, and was leading for most of the
game until Colorado finally took the lead with about 5 minutes left.
Harvard’s 13-1 start is the best start since going 19-1 back
in 1945-46. Their quality wins this year
consist of other Boston area teams, beating Boston University and Boston
College. They won at BU in overtime,
grinding out a 79-68 battle against the team that will probably represent the
Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament this year. BC, on the other hand, was a team that
Harvard was supposed to take care of business against, and they did, winning
73-58. Remember, BC played UConn
extremely tough. Tonight could be a
gigantic win for the Crimson come March, as it could be a quality win if they have
to receive an at-large bid, or just to improve their seeding.
We’re about to get into some of the standout players for
Harvard, but first let’s look at some team statistics. They are better, statistically, than UConn in
Points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, and field goal
percentage. But, relax husky fans, it’s
just statistics, still have to play the game.
Harvard ranks 61st nationally in assists per game, so they
are going to share the basketball with some classic Ivy league offense, running
the backdoor. When watching the game,
you should not expect for Harvard to shots early in the shot clock. They will work the clock and get high-quality
shots. For example, they do not shoot
many 3s. They are shooting 36% from 3,
which is mediocre, but rank 331st in 3 field goal attempts. They would rather get layups, or open
mid-range jump shots.
Now to the players.
Harvard has 3 players who average 10+ Points per game. Harvard’s best player is Junior Guard/Forward
Wesley Saunders who is what I like to call a “stat sheet stuffer.” He leads the team with 15.7 PPG, while also
averaging 5.3 RBG, 3.8 APG, 2.4 Steals per game, and 0.9 Blocks per game. He is also expected to guard Shabazz Napier
for most of the game. Senior Forward
Kyle Casey leads the team in rebounds with 6.3 a game. He is 2nd on the team in scoring
with 11.9. He is one of Harvard’s
tallest players at 6’7, but still expect him to be extremely tough on the
boards. The third player for Harvard to
average over 10 a game is Sophomore guard Siyani Chambers at 11.0 PPG. He also leads the team in assists per game
with 5.1. Another player to watch is
Senior guard Laurent Rivard who leads the team with 27 3 pointers made on 77
attempts for 35%. He is one of the few
guys on this Harvard team who will shoot threes, and make them.
Coach Tommy Amaker is doing an absolute fantastic job in his
7th year with Harvard. He has
posted 4 straight winning seasons dating back to the 2009-10 season, and is
well on his way to a 5th winning season. In 2011-12, he coached Harvard to their first
NCAA Tournament appearance since 1946 after going 26-5 and winning the Ivy
league. Last year, Amaker coached the
Crimson to a 20-10 season, but was able to record the first win in history for
Harvard in the NCAA tournament after beating New Mexico as a 14 seed. Before Harvard, he was the head coach at
Michigan, so he very much knows what he is doing and will coach an extremely
impressive game tonight against Kevin Ollie.
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