Divine Providence

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—The Harvard men’s basketball team washed away the lingering effects of a brutal loss in New Haven with one half of near-flawless play on Saturday night. Another spectacular guard effort keyed a 75-58 Harvard blowout at the Pizzitola Center and kept the team alive and well in the Ivy title hunt.

The Crimson improved to 11-6 overall and 3-1 in the Ivy League. It was the most recent test in a tough opening stretch that includes five of the first six league games on the road.

After suffering through what was likely the most emotionally draining loss of the year on Friday against Yale, Harvard responded by pushing the Bears (6-11, 2-2) around their own gym. The Crimson outscored Brown 45-23 in the first 20 minutes of play, effectively ending the game by halftime.

“Clearly, [it was] just great to bounce back after a tough loss last night,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “It was great to see us get into rhythm. I think that was the thing that was disturbing last night to us, was that we never got any real rhythm.”

Junior shooting guard Jim Goffredo, whose effort earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors on Monday, was feeling that rhythm more than any other player on the court. Goffredo scored 30 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including eight three pointers­—the second most in school history—and dismantled Brown’s defense with his particularly hot first-half shooting. In the opening frame, he was 7-of-8 from three point range and finished with 22 of Harvard’s 45 points at the break.

With 7:16 remaining in the half and Harvard leading 19-12, Goffredo unleashed a stunning perimeter barrage, hitting five consecutive three-pointers and adding a free throw to outscore Brown 16-3 over the next three minutes, turning a seven point game into a 35-15 laugher.

“We have to do a better job knowing where [Goffredo] is,” Brown coach Glen Miller said. “To start the game he didn’t get too many open looks, but then we lost track of him. He got hot. He flat out can shoot the ball.”

All five of Goffredo’s long balls in the run were assisted, three of them by guard Drew Housman. After a rough night against Yale that had the rowdy Bulldogs’ student section continually taunting him, Housman responded with perhaps his best all-around game of the year. He compiled a career-high nine assists against just one turnover to set up the Crimson’s hot hands, and added four rebounds and six points on 2-of-4 shooting.

“He was a little bit down in shoot-around,” Sullivan said. “We just chatted a little bit and continued to reiterate how much confidence we have in him handling these situations. I think he showed some resiliency today, and certainly when guys make shots your assists go up.”

Housman and Goffredo’s two-man game in the first half was aided by Brown’s 2-3 zone defense, which was designed to collapse upon the interior to prevent captain Matt Stehle and junior center Brian Cusworth from hurting the smaller Bears inside. While the zone didn’t slow down Stehle, who finished with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, it allowed Goffredo to find open spots on the perimeter and wait for the dish from inside.

“One of the reasons you go to zone is to stop the inside play,” Goffredo said. “Towards the end of the half the big guys did a great job of setting screens on the outside players. Matt set a couple of great screens and I got wide-open looks in the corner.”

While the offense was rolling—the team shot 52 percent from the floor and 9-of-10 from the line in the first half, and got nine points each from Stehle and senior forward Michael Beal—it was the Crimson’s swarming defense that turned the game into a rout.

Brown shot 9-of-23 from the floor in the first half, including just 2-of-9 from long range, and Harvard grabbed 12 defensive rebounds in 14 opportunities, continually holding the Bears to one possession and out.

“As far as our offensive execution,” Miller said, “Harvard, with a little bit of pressure on the ball [and] pressure in the passing lanes, took us out of the continuity of our sets. And then it just spiraled, and hurt us defensively too.”

“It was definitely one of the most complete halves we’ve played,” Goffredo said.

In addition to his nine points, Beal pulled in six rebounds and three steals, and Cusworth added seven rebounds. Brown was led by forward Keenan Jeppesen, who scored 12 of his team-high 18 in the second half, while center Mark MacDonald added 16.

The Crimson regained its footing at second place in the Ivy standings with Yale, and trailed league-favorite Penn’s 2-0 mark. Harvard continues its road trip next Friday in Manhattan, where it will take on Columbia.

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