While We Were Away...

The Harvard men's basketball team took two and a half weeks off for exams, and as a result, moved into first place in the Ivy League standings.

While the Crimson eagers were knowking off midyear blue books, the Ancient Eight's other squads were knocking of each other.

When the Crimson began its midseason hiatus Jan. 14, it sported a 3-1 mark and a third place position in the league standing. Harvard's still 3-1, but thanks to losses last weekend by previously unbeaten Columbia and Brewty the Crimson's now in sole possession of first place.

One half game back are Yale and Brown, both 2-1. The Bruins knocked off the Elis last Saturday in Providence, R L., as sophomore Kieron Bigby scored a career-high 23-points to pace the hosts.

Interestingly enough, Bigby returned two interceptions for touchdowns in Brown's victory over Yale in last fall's football season.

Meanwhile, Columbia lost a shot at first place when Cornell took a 56-51 victory from the Lions Saturday. The Big Red's win, which came just one week after a loss at the hands of the very same Lion squad, marked Cornell's test victory in New York City in 12 years.

That turn of events caused a logjam in the fight for fourth place, where four teams (Penn, Princeton, Cornell and Columbia) are currently tied at 1-1.

Then, of course, there's 1-5 Dartmouth, which is making an early--albeit strong--run at last place.

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Harvard (10-1 overall) returns from its midseason layout tomorrow night, when it'll begin its longest and toughest road trip of the year.

Three non conference games in five days are in store for the Crimson, which will then turn its attention entirely to Ivy showdowns.

The road swing begins in Pennsylvania, where Harvard has a date tomorrow night with Lehigh and one Saturday with Lafayette.

Harvard toppled Lehigh, 87-80, in last year's inaugurat meeting between the two squads and will enter this year game as a very slight favorite.

Saturday's shindig with Lafayette will be the first meeting in history between the two clubs, and will pit Crimson Coach Frank McLaughlin against legendary Lafayette mentor Butch van Breda Kolff.

While one victory would be nice, and two would be pleasant, three out of three would be a miracle.

That's because the Crimson has an appointment Monday night in Durham, N.C. with the nation's sixth-ranked Duke squad.

The powerful Blue Devils, who a year ago got a mighty big scare from Harvard in an 89-86 Duke win, will use the Crimson as a breather from a hectic Atlantic Coast Conference schedule that's resulted in three losses in the last five games.

Harvard, winners of seven consecutive games on the road, will be making its first appearance in Duke's famed Cameron Indoor Stadium.

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Duke is the nation's sixth-ranked team in the Associated Press Poll, but according to USA Today's College Basketball Mathematical Ratings, Duke is the nation's second-ranked team.

Now according to those very same mathematical ratings, Harvard is the nation's 156th-ranked team.

That might sound pretty dubious for the Crimson, but consider for a second that in the last two weeks Harvard--the Ivy League's highest rated team--has actually jumped 36 spots.

Then consider that in the last two weeks Duke has fallen from number one to number two.

At least Harvard's going in the right direction.

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Judging by those very same mathematical ratings, which count only Division I games and which take into account schedule strength and margin of victory, Harvard's schedule is the weakest in the country among the 292 Division I teams.

Then again, you've got remember that's as much a result of the poor records of just about every Ivy League team Harvard has played as it is the result of purposely scheduling weaker opponents.

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If not for a 62-60 heartbreaking loss to Dartmouth last month, Harvard would be 11-0.

Couple that with recent losses by Georgetown and Duke, and Harvard would have been the nation's only undefeated team.

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Now Harvard may not be able to has a claim on the nation's toughest schedule or the nation's best record but it's certainly got a legitimate claim on the title of nation's best shooting team.

The Crimson squad that a year ago set an NCAA record for free throw percentage (.822) is currently ranked third in the country in that categors. Harvard's hitting at 79.7 percent from the line Only Weber State (80 6 percent) and Lexas San Antonio (80 5 percent) are hitting at a higher clip.

In field goal shooting percentage. Harvard is ranked fifth in the country. The Crimson sagers are hitting 55.2 percent from the floor.

Harvard is the only team in the nation to appear in the Top Five of both categories, and only Ohio State appears in the Top 15 of both.

So from now on, that's Harvard, the best all-around shooting team in the USA.

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This week's tipoff: don't miss the CBS halftime show of Saturday's Arkansas-Georgetown game.

A few familiar faces and a few familiar names will make a few brief appearances.

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In the J.C. and B.P. departments, Harvard's high-flying senior co-captains are enjoying their finest seasons ever.

Last year's Ivy League Player of the Year, Joe Carrabino is 27th in the nation in scoring and first in the Ivy League, averaging a career high 22.0 points per game.

Carrabino, in addition, is ranked 25th in the nation in individual free throw percentage. He's hitting 88.3 percent from the foul line. There are 30 players in the country are connecting at better than 87.5 percent from the charity stripe.

Meanwhile, Bob Ferry is averaging a career high 17.5 points per game, and is third in scoring among all Ivy players.

The senior forward, connecting at 61.9 percent from the floor, is ranked 27th in the nation in field goal percentage.

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One final word on the All World Carrabino, the Encino, Calif, native will be featured in a Scholar Player Profile to be broadcast on CBS during either March on dating the NCAA tournament.

The profile will include a 30 second spot on Carrabino and a 30 second spot for the Army, which is sponsoring the profiles.

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THE NOTEBOOK'S NOTEBOOK: Duke, by the way, is the top ranked team in field goal shooting percentage. The Blue Devils are hitting at 56.5 percent from the floor. The Blue Devils lead the Harvard Duke series, 2 0, Junior guard Bill Parkerson has recovered from an ankle injury that kept him out of practice for two weeks, and will make this week's road trip.

The Basketball Notebook Appears Every Wednesday in The Harvard Crimson.