Defense Takes on Burden in Men's Basketball Victory

ALBANY, N.Y.—With the second- and third-leading scorers in the hospital and on the bench, respectively, it was time for the Harvard men’s basketball team to get defensive.

Turns out, it was a pretty good strategy.

The Crimson (7-3) hounded the talented Albany guards all game and sealed off the interior, holding the Great Danes to just 48 points—the lowest output by a Harvard opponent since a 48-42 loss to Vermont on Dec. 14, 2003.

Albany (2-6) came in averaging 69 points per contest and scored 64 and 65 in a 19-point loss to No. 6 Florida and an eight-point loss to No. 14 UCLA, respectively.

“We watched so much tape of Albany staying in the game with Florida...and Albany staying in the game with UCLA,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “Our guys went into the game not in awe, and they didn’t get too concerned about two starters out. They just focused on getting the job done, and I’m really proud of them.”

The Crimson perimeter pressure held the Great Danes to 21 percent shooting from behind the arc—15 percent lower than their season average—and just 36 percent shooting from the field.

“All of our guards played really solid defense,” said freshman point guard Drew Housman. “They were all out of sorts, and I thought they were tired by the end too, because they were chasing us around and we were penetrating a lot on the offensive end.”

Albany guards Lucious Jordan and Jamar Wilson, who each have scored 1,000 points for their careers, scored 16 and 11 points, respectively, but no other player went for more than five.

TURN, TURN, TURN

Through 12 minutes of Saturday’s contest, the Crimson had yet to commit a turnover. Over the final eight minutes of the half, Harvard turned the ball over just twice—one of the squad’s most efficient halves of the season.

Housman dished out four first-half assists without giving the ball away, as the Crimson recorded six helpers in the opening 20 minutes.

“I was just so impressed with Drew in the first half,” Sullivan said. “He was able to take the ball off the dribble, and he didn’t let the pressure get to him. And I think the guys played off of that and felt very confident as the game went on.”

Harvard turned the ball over 13 times in the second half, but nine of those came during a five-minute span directly out of the intermission and the final three minutes of the game, when the result was no longer in doubt. The Crimson shot 14-for-21 (67 percent) from the field during the final 20 minutes to make up for the turnovers.

INJURY BUG

For the past three games, the Harvard men’s basketball team had been without its all-Ivy center Brian Cusworth.

So the last thing the Crimson needed was to suffer the loss of its all-Ivy caliber shooting guard Jim Goffredo. But the 6’1 junior had surgery for a staph infection and remained hospitalized for the weekend, keeping him out of Saturday’s contest against Albany.

Goffredo, the team’s second-leading scorer, and Cusworth, third in scoring, had combined for 27 points per contest.

Senior forward Zach Martin, who entered the game averaging 5.8 points per game, took Goffredo’s spot in the starting lineup and scored six points while pulling down six boards.

Cusworth’s status remains questionable, pending another medical exam early next week, while Goffredo should be ready to return against Colgate tomorrow at Lavietes Pavilion.

“He had surgery [for the staph infection] Thursday night,” Stehle said. “He’s staying in the hospital until [Sunday], but he’s doing really well. He’ll be back for Tuesday, barring any complications. He’ll do everything in his power to be back for Tuesday.”

POINTS IN THE PAINT

Sophomore forward Brad Unger had a career high 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting. He logged a career high 20 minutes as well...Housman had a career high in rebounds with seven and finished five assists and three boards shy of a triple-double...Harvard is 7-0 in games in which it has led at the half and 0-3 when it has trailed...With the victory, the Crimson guaranteed itself its first winning non-conference record since the 2002-03 season. That Harvard squad went 8-5 before stumbling to a 4-10 league mark.

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