Crimson Looks To Play Spoiler

It was the title bestowed upon this team from the outset of the season, and now it will be the one that the Harvard men’s basketball team looks to fulfill.

That would be the title of spoiler.

Despite being eliminated from the Ivy title race in early February, the Crimson (4-21, 3-9 Ivy) sits poised to decide the eventual champion as the “Killer P’s” visit Lavietes Pavilion this weekend.

Princeton (17-7, 10-1)—which plays against the Crimson in the first game at 7 p.m. tonight—sits two games ahead of both Brown and Penn (15-9, 8-3) in the loss column entering the final weekend of Ivy play. The Quakers and the Tigers will square off next Tuesday at the Palestra.

For that game to matter, however, Penn must sweep Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend, while Princeton splits those two contests. If the Quakers go on to beat the Tigers, the two teams—three if Brown beats both Columbia and Cornell this weekend—would be forced into a playoff situation to decide the eventual champion.

The playoff would be held at a neutral site. According to the league offices, sites are currently being considered, but the final location will not be announced until it is clear a playoff will be necessary.

Fans from around the Ivy League will be watching—live on CN8—as the Tigers attempt to clinch at least a share of the Ivy title against the Crimson tonight.

“We definitely do want to knock them out,” Harvard junior captain Jason Norman said. “They’ll be fired up, but we want to spoil their season.”

The Crimson nearly did just that four weekends ago, playing Princeton to a 42-42 standstill after 40 minutes of regulation. The Tigers, however, came up with clutch buckets to force two overtimes, before pulling away for a 58-50 win.

“We made a few mistakes down the stretch and didn’t execute on offense,” Norman said. “We played well and should have won.”

Tonight, Harvard will have a chance to make amends for the first matchup in front of a sold-out crowd at Lavietes.

“It’s going to be pretty crazy and pretty intense,” Norman said. “It’s a big difference from normal, and it’ll bring a lot of energy to both sides. I’m really looking forward to it.”

This final weekend of play will come to a close tomorrow night with a visit from Penn, fresh off a 104-69 thrashing of the Crimson four weekends ago. The Quakers buried Harvard on the strength of a 66.1 field goal percentage and 14 threes.

“We were humbled by our effort at Penn,” said Harvard coach Frank Sullivan. “We didn’t play strong enough defensively with our hands and feet.”

The Crimson will attempt to slow the ball down against the Quakers in tomorrow night’s meeting, hoping to keep Penn’s explosive shooters from getting into a rhythm.

“We have to keep ourselves out of rotation situations, because the ball moves faster than our feet,” Sullivan said.

“One of the biggest things will be ball pressure,” Norman added. “We also can’t let the ball go inside-out as much. When the ball gets in the post we have to trap it there and not let it get kicked back outside.”

The Crimson will receive a boost on the inside this weekend, as sophomore forward Zach Martin will return from a hand injury. Martin will, however, have to wear a protective device on the appendage, likely limiting his effectiveness. Martin’s return to the lineup leaves sophomore point guard Michael Beal—out with a torn MCL—as the only Harvard player who will be unable to go this weekend.

Cognizant of its previous matchups with the two Ivy powers, Harvard will look to give a consistent defensive effort this weekend, rather than oscillate between its worst and best defensive performances of the season.

“Reflecting on both games, we haven’t ever had such a dramatic change defensively in a 48-hour period,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got to find middle ground…[and] some level of consistency.”

Whether or not the Crimson can put together 80 minutes of solid defense will be the deciding factor in Harvard’s attempt to pull off an upset in the next two days. It also could be the deciding factor in the perception of the Crimson from around the league as well as the amount of momentum the team can carry into next season.

“If we could sweep this weekend, it would be a tremendous statement,” Norman said. “We’ve been coming together as a team all season and now we want to send a message to the Ivy League.”

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.