Harvard Looks For Revenge on Road Trip

Penn and Princeton may have home court advantage, but as the Harvard men’s basketball team (10-12, 2-6 Ivy) gears up for this weekend, it has nothing but revenge on its mind.

The Crimson is looking to redeem itself against Ivy rivals Penn (8-13, 4-3) and Princeton (9-11, 4-3), after facing devastating losses to both teams earlier in the season. Harvard will take on the Quakers at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Palestra in Philadelphia, and will play the Tigers Friday at 7 p.m. in Princeton’s Jadwin Gymnasium.

Last weekend, the Crimson suffered two away defeats against Cornell and Columbia, dropping to seventh place overall in the Ivy standings.

“I think we could respond better this weekend,” senior Drew Housman said. “We kind of crumbled once the crowd got into it. Our freshman got their first real experience last weekend.”

Although the difficulty of playing away may have hurt Harvard last weekend, the team feels more prepared coming into these upcoming games.

“We’re not happy with coming away with two losses last weekend,” captain Andrew Pusar said. “But it’s us, not the places. These have been tough places to play…Going into an environment like that, it can give you a spark.”

Currently on a three-game winning streak, the Quakers have certainly found a solid rhythm. This past weekend Penn cruised by Brown, 73-52, and beat Yale, 68-63, the following night.

An obstacle that the Crimson will have to face in its matchup with the Quakers is sophomore forward Tyler Bernardini. Bernardini has been one of the Ivy’s leading scorers all season, currently sitting at the number five spot.

“He’s a good scorer, a good shooter,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “Just like any other team, I’m sure he’s going to be a little bit more comfortable, confident being at home, so we’ll have our work cut out for us.”

Another player the Crimson has to keep an eye on is freshman point guard Zach Rosen, who is leading the Ivy League in assists per game (5.2), including 39 in his last six games.

Although Penn has won 13 of the last 14 games against Harvard, the Crimson is excited and ready to take on the challenge, particularly after the Quakers squeezed by Harvard, 66-60, earlier this season.

Princeton may come into tomorrow’s contest slightly less poised, as it is currently on a three-game losing streak. However, earlier this season, the Tigers turned a five-game losing streak into a seven-game winning streak, so this game cannot be taken lightly by the Crimson.

Princeton’s offense has been a two-man show that posed problems for Harvard and the other Ivies this season. Sophomore guard Dan Mavraides and freshman guard Douglas Davis have been dominating outside the arc, with Mavraides leading the league by shooting .548 from three-point territory in Ivy games.

“Those two, they’re good shooters,” Amaker said. “Davis is such a key with making things going for the team…Mavraides [is] a very good shooter. So I think they’re solid players, and I’m sure they’ll [be] looking to right their ship because they’re coming off of a few losses themselves.”

In the last meeting of these two rivals, the Crimson fell on hard luck. After exchanging leads for most of the game, the Tigers pulled ahead with only 3:49 remaining and held on to win the game, 77-71. Nevertheless, Harvard knows what it has to do to be successful.

“It’s not that much different against Princeton,” Housman said. “Offensively, we’ll be able to find some gaps in their zone.”

The Crimson has been practicing hard all week to prepare for these two battles. After the previous encounters this season, Harvard knows how it can shut these teams down.

“We don’t anticipate those two teams changing up what they do,” Amaker said. “They’re very consistent and they had success against us the first time. Both games were very good ballgames, possession games that could’ve changed in our favor.”

This weekend gives the Crimson a chance to make its way back up in the standings and earn back some respect in the Ivy League.

“It would be nice to go into their houses and dictate tempo,” Housman said. “The number one thing is staying confident and really staying energetic…We want to play our style of basketball.”