M. Basketball Gets Swept by Killer P's

Princeton was bent on exorcising the frustration of a lost season Friday night, and Harvard could do nothing to counter the Tigers’ inspired effort.

Faced with the prospect of losing an eighth Ivy League contest for the first time in school history, Princeton (15-12, 6-7 Ivy) played its best game of the year in routing the Crimson (12-15, 7-7) 66-44 at Jadwin Gym. Four Tigers scored in double figures, as the team collectively caught fire to hand Harvard its 16th straight loss in Princeton’s home gym.

Harvard stayed with the Tigers early on, and took a 13-12 lead on a layup from junior forward Matt Stehle with 6:45 left in the first half. Princeton promptly reeled off a 21-1 run that spanned halftime, taking a 33-14 lead early in the second half. Harvard would never seriously challenge the Tigers, as the closest the Crimson came the rest of the game was 15.

“We always talk about starting with our defense and it happened tonight,” said forward Andre Logan. “If they’re stuck on a number and we’re keeping them from scoring, we’re going to be able to get a lead with a few good offensive plays.”

Logan provided plenty of those plays to get the dormant Tigers rolling. After Stehle gave the Crimson its short-lived lead, Logan hit back-to-back three pointers, then added a layup after guard Will Venable’s basket to give the Tigers a quick nine point advantage. On the night, Logan led all scorers with 15 points on perfect 6-of-6 shooting—including 3-of-3 from downtown.

As a team, the Tigers got good looks at the hoop all game, and shot a season best 70 percent. Princeton was 10-of-17 from long range, and converted an astounding 16-of-20 from the floor in the second half to keep Harvard from making it a contest.

“Every one of their open shots was falling,” junior center Brian Cusworth said. “They weren’t missing. They were unconscious.”

Harvard’s 44 points marked its worst offensive output of the season, and the team shot just 32.6 percent from the field, including 9-of-31 in the second half.

“We never wavered on defense, so even when we were struggling on offense we were still ahead,” Princeton coach Joe Scott said. “Then we did some nice things on offense that let us pull away.”

Venable shot 6-of-8 from the floor for 13 points and had a game-high seven assists. Guard Scott Greenman also scored 13 for the Tigers, and center Judson Wallace added 10. Harvard was led by Stehle, who had 14 points and nine rebounds. No other member of the Crimson scored in double figures.

PENN 85, HARVARD 68

Yet another road trip to the storied homes of the Ivy powers ended in disappointment for Harvard on Saturday night, as the Crimson closed its season by falling to the Quakers (19-8, 12-1) at The Palestra.

Harvard was able to contain Penn’s explosive guards—a key heading into the contest—but the lesser-known members of the Quakers’ rotation were left free to bury the Crimson and extend the team’s protracted winless drought at The Palestra.

Penn guards Tim Begley and Ibrahim Jaaber were held to just 16 combined points, but forward Mark Zoller had a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds and reserve guard David Whitehurst scored a career-high 16 points to lead the Quakers to a resounding win. The Quakers jumped out to a 21-10 lead in the early going, and maintained a comfortable distance the rest of the way on the team’s Senior Night.

“There were a couple key possessions where we didn’t make free throws, a couple possessions where calls didn’t go our way,” said Harvard assistant coach Bill Holden, who filled in for a sick Frank Sullivan. “They are a veteran, experienced team, they have done this before and that showed tonight.”

Trailing by as many as 17 with 5:11 to go in the first period, Harvard went on a 16-7 run to close the half, pulling to within eight at the break. Zoller, who played just 19 minutes off the bench, answered by scoring Penn’s first seven points of the second half, igniting a stretch that put the Quakers up 60-41 with 13:24 to play.

The Crimson made one final push—pulling to within seven with 8:32 left on a tip-in from Stehle—but a 12-2 Penn run over the next six plus minutes ended any notion of a Harvard comeback and started up the celebrations from the 5,859 fans at the Palestra.

Forward Steve Danley added 14 points and seven rebounds for Penn, while Begley had 11. Danley, Whitehurst and Zoller combined to shoot 16-of-21 from the floor. Senior point guard David Giovacchini led Harvard with 12 points.

Harvard’s twin losses in the season’s final series prevented the team from finishing with its first above .500 Ivy mark since 1996-97. The Crimson ends the year with a 7-7 record in league play for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.

“It’s definitely a tough way to go out,” Cusworth said. “I really wish we could have capped off the season a little better, especially for the four seniors who have worked so hard.”

—Staff writer Caleb W. Peiffer can be reached at cpeiffer@fas.harvard.edu.