M. Hoops: Crossing Fingers & Praying

Cross your fingers and pray. The Harvard men's basketball team is hoping for a miracle this afternoon in its matchup against crosstown rival Boston College.

Although the Crimson has improved significantly since last season, it remains a heavy underdog heading into today's game at BC's Conte Forum.

After opening the season on Tuesday by losing to a tough Holy Cross squad, the Crimson will be trying for its first win.

It won't be easy. "It's going to be one of our biggest challenges of the year, no doubt about it," freshman swingman Mike Gilmore said.

BC hasn't finished in the upper division of the Big East, its home conference, in nine seasons, but many observers think that this will be the breakthrough year. Even in a league with Seton Hall, Syracuse and Georgetown, the Eagles are expected to more than hold their own.

The Crimson's rivals are keyed by pro-style three-guard rotation, which features three juniors who have started together since their freshman year.

Gerrod Abram (11.3 ppg, 2.5 apg), Howard Eisley (11.6 ppg, 4.3 apg) and Malcolm Huckaby (13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg) have shot over, driven around and passed through opponents for the last two seasons.

For the Crimson to perform a miracle on Conte's parquet floor, the BC backcourt will have to be reined in, and the Harvard offense will have to hit on all cylinders.

Senior Captain Tyler Rullman scored a career-high 30 against Holy Cross, and he will need to duplicate that type of effort to keep the Crimson close in today's contest.

Rullman has demonstrated numerous times, Tuesday being the most recent, that he can score on a variety of twisting, off-balance jumpers. Against BC, though, Harvard will need higher percentage shots. To keep Rullman at least somewhat free on the perimeter, the Crimson hopes for active play inside from seniors Eric Carter and Arturo Llopis.

Freshman Darrin Rankin and sophomore Paul Kubiak, both of whom saw extensive action in the opener, will help Carter and Llopis try to exploit BC's relatively weak frontline.

Although BC center Bill Curley, a 6'9" power forward, is picked by some to be on the All Big-East first team, the Eagles have little depth in the paint. Senior David Hinton and sophomore Kevin Hrobowski return from last year's squad as big question marks.

"Curley's the key," Carter said. "We're going to try to take away his left hand, which is his favorite shot, and then just hit the boards as hard as we can."

Admittedly, it won't be as easy as it sounds. Shutting down one of the best big men and backcourts in the Big East would be a tall order for any team. But there's no choice for Harvard. Coming into the season, the Crimson knew that the first two games would be among its toughest all season."

It's going to be a difficult game," said Carter. "If we play like we did in the first half against Holy Cross [the Crimson stayed within three points of the Crusaders], we can be in it all the way. But if we let up, it's going to be awful."