M. Hoops Eyes Quakers, Tigers

Harvard men's basketball coach Frank Sullivan says his team is getting close. This weekend he will find out just how much further it has to go.

In the premier weekend for Harvard basketball, the Crimson (11-7, 4-2 Ivy) will host Ivy co-leaders Penn (7-12, 4-0) and Princeton (9-7, 4-0) tonight and tomorrow night at Lavietes Pavilion. A sweep or even a split would mark an important step in Harvard's quest to challenge the Ivy powerhouses for the conference championship.

"We've gotten close," Sullivan said. "But it's not going to become a reality until we get in situation where we can beat them or split with them on a regular basis."

Over the last three decades, Penn and Princeton have redefined the concept of league domination in a single sport. Only twice since 1963--and never since 1988--has either team failed to win or share the Ivy title. Success had bred more success for both schools, as potential recruits see that only Penn and Princeton can offer chances to compete against top-caliber opponents on national television.

"Tradition more than anything helps those teams recruit real good basketball players," Sullivan said. "They continue to gain that necessary exposure year after year by being champions and participating in the NCAA tournament."

Still, Harvard has made some strides in improving its program in recent years. The Crimson is third overall in winning percentage over the last five years, and it is the only team other than Penn and Princeton to finish in the top half of the Ivy League during that span.

Last year, Harvard came the closest of any team to stopping Penn's undefeated Ivy season. The Crimson lost 62-61 at home when forward Dan Clemente missed a shot at the buzzer. Harvard beat Princeton at home the year before.

The Crimson enters this year's weekend boasting the top-rated offense in the league, averaging more than 73 points a game. Clemente powers the offense, leading the team in both scoring (18.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg). The senior captain will likely move into eighth place on the all-time Harvard scoring list this weekend.

Harvard will also look to sophomore guard Pat Harvey, who is second on the team in scoring and has carried the squad with last-second, game-winning plays against both Dartmouth and Hartford.

Although beating both Penn and Princeton is a daunting task, this figures to be Harvard's best chance in years.

Both schools were hit hard by personnel losses over the offeseason. Penn entered this season having to replace its starting backcourt, including Ivy Player of the Year Michael Jordan.

Princeton lost its coach Bill Carmody to Northwestern, as well as all-league center Chris Young, who signed a professional baseball contract.

Penn and Princeton also struggled through their non-conference schedules this year. As usual, each school played top-rate competition, but neither team pulled off the shocker this year that seemed to always happen in seasons past.

Penn opened the year 0-8, but most of those defeats were quality losses to highly-rated teams. In early December, the Quakers dropped two close decisions at home to Maryland and at Seton Hall, two teams once ranked in the top ten.

However, the Quakers have not been able to duplicate that level of play since. Along with the losses to teams like N.C. State and Temple were some less-than-impressive defeats against Drexel, Delaware and Fordham. Penn finished 0-5 against the "Big Five" Philadelphia schools for the first time in four years, culminating with a lopsided 80-51 blowout at the hands of Villanova on Tuesday.

Princeton faired better at the start of the season, including an impressive early win over Xavier. However, the Tigers have lost to far worse teams, including Lafayette, which is one of the worst teams in the country in the RPI rankings.

Still, things just looked like old times when both schools opened their Ivy schedules with a pair of blowouts, destroying Columbia and Cornell. But last weekend, Penn and Princeton struggled at home against both Brown and Yale. Both teams swept the weekend, but each game was close, and Brown came close to upsetting Princeton before losing 66-62.

Harvard blew out Brown at Lavietes last month.

"It helps that they didn't dominate at home two teams that we were very competitive with," Sullivan said. "It helps our players believe they are in a competitive position to win this weekend."

This weekend will mark the first conference road trip for both schools. Princeton has not played away from home since late December.

The Crimson will look to stop Penn's three-year tear through the Ivy League tonight. The Quakers have won 25 straight conference games, easily the longest such streak in the country.

The return of guard Lamar Plummer--who missed most of last year for personal reasons--has helped make up for the loss of Jordan. Plummer leads the team in scoring at 15.9 ppg and is deadly from long range, shooting a better percentage from 3-point range than from inside the arc.

Penn forward Ugonna Onyekwe will pose a challenge inside for the Crimson. Last year's Ivy Rookie of the Year, Onyekwe is averaging 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds.

A day after trying to keep up with Penn's fast-tempo attack, Harvard will need to be patient against Princeton's deliberate offense.

Head Coach John Thompson III--son of the famous former Georgetown coach--has not deviated from the half-court, backdoor style of play that made the Tigers famous under former coaches Carmody and Pete Carill. Thompson was an assistant under both coaches.

"They've now got some younger players filling the roles. But the style of play hasn't changed," Sullivan said. It isn't broke yet, so why fix it."

Without a bona-fide star, Princeton relies on balance to score points. Mike Bechtold, scoring just over 10 ppg, is the only Tiger player averaging double-figures. Despite the inside presence of Nate Walton, son of NBA great Bill Walton, Princeton lives and dies by the outside shots. The Tigers have attempted more three-pointers than two-pointers this season.

Last weekend's loss at Columbia means that Harvard must realistically win each of its remaining games to have a shot at the Ivy League title. With two games each against Princeton and Penn remaining, finishing first is likely unattainable.

Yet even if a trip to the NCAA tournament is out of reach for Harvard, home victories against Princeton and Penn would still mark a successful season in most respects. More importantly, it would be a critical step to even more success in the future.