SEASON RECAP: Without Cusworth, Crimson Left Reeling

For the second straight season, the Harvard men’s basketball team saw its Ivy title hopes smashed by a disappointing losing streak.

With an Ivy League record of 3-3 entering the dreaded road trip to Penn and Princeton in early February, the Crimson had hopes of knocking off two of the league’s perennial powerhouses in one fell swoop.

Instead, Harvard suffered its most heartbreaking defeat of the season, a double-overtime 74-68 loss to the Tigers that sent the Crimson spiraling downward into a five-game skid.

The following night a tired squad lost by 14 to the Quakers, in effect ending its chances at the elusive Ivy championship.

But the biggest story of the season occurred much earlier. Center Brian Cusworth entered the 2006-07 season with just one semester left of collegiate eligibility. Faced with the option of sitting out the Crimson’s first 18 games or the final 10, Cusworth opted for the latter, allowing him to practice and work with the team through the fall.

However, this meant that after just four Ivy League games, the center would be forced to leave the team with a gaping hole in the middle of the lineup. With Cusworth, Harvard finished 9-9 overall, and 2-2 in the Ivy League. Without the seven-footer, the Crimson stumbled to a 12-16 finish, just 5-9 in the Ivies.

“No matter how much we try to minimize it, anytime we lose statistics like [Brian’s], I think there’s an apprehension in our minds,” head coach Frank Sullivan said about losing the big man mid-season.

With Cusworth manning the post, the year opened nicely, with a 75-71 non-conference victory over Maine. From there, though, Harvard was dealt two straight losses by stronger opponents in Boston University and Michigan, and a third defeat against Holy Cross put the Crimson at 1-3.

But then, Harvard rattled off six victories in its next seven games, knocking off both New Hampshire and Vermont on the road in overtime. In the Vermont game, sophomore standout Drew Housman notched 25 points while Cusworth grabbed 16 rebounds. Things were finally beginning to click for the Crimson.

“This is our biggest win, just because we were on the road, and what they’ve done [earlier this year], and it went to overtime,” freshman guard Jeremy Lin said after the game. “They’re a very quality team, so I feel like this was the biggest win of the season.”

However, three straight losses capped off non-conference play with a 7-7 mark, as Harvard headed to Dartmouth for the Ivy opener.

Despite 25 points and 15 rebounds from Cusworth, the Crimson fell in overtime, 80-73. Harvard would get revenge just six days later, defeating the Big Green at Lavietes Pavilion, 77-71, to snap a four-game losing streak. Six players scored in double figures for the Crimson in the win.

In Cusworth’s final weekend with the team, he did anything but disappoint. The center had a career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Yale, followed by a 19-point effort in a 92-88 win over Brown en route to being named Ivy League Player of the Week.

“You can see his maturity, and I think that’s the thing we’re going to miss the most,” Sullivan said upon Cusworth’s departure. “Well, obviously, we’re going to miss the shot-blocking and we’re going to miss some scoring, some rebounding—but really the maturity of a senior is critical with such a young group of guys.”

With 10 Ivy games remaining, the Crimson looked to sophomore Evan Harris and junior Brad Unger to fill the void.

The duo immediately took charge as Unger, next season’s captain-elect, scored 16 points against Columbia in the first game without Cusworth, and Harris scored 18 points, including the game-winning layup with 0.8 seconds left, and grabbed 10 rebounds to knock off Cornell, 65-64.

Then came the weekend at Princeton and Penn, which initiated the five-game losing streak.

Harvard rebounded to defeat Princeton at home and Cornell on the road after the streak before losing its season finale at Columbia. Graduating senior captain and All-Ivy honorable mention Jim Goffredo finished his career in style with 24 points in the loss.

Besides Cusworth, Goffredo and Brian Darcy were the squad’s lone seniors, leaving the Crimson a battle-tested, experienced squad entering next season’s campaign.

Housman, who also earned All-Ivy honorable mention, will no doubt be looked to for leadership. The point guard exploded for a career high 33 points in the double-overtime loss at Princeton, while averaging 13.3 points per game on the year. Lin also is poised for an outbreak after a solid freshman year.

Additionally, Harvard will have a new leader in 2007-08, hiring former Michigan coach Tommy Amaker to take the reins from Sullivan.

“I’m ecstatic,” Harris said, regarding Amaker’s hiring. “And I’m sure the rest of the team shares my sentiments.”

—Staff writer Kevin C. Reyes can be reached at kreyes@fas.harvard.edu.