Big Red Massacre

What a difference one year can make.

A season removed from suffering two disappointing losses at the hands of Cornell, the Harvard men’s basketball team took a step toward gaining retribution against the three-time defending Ivy League champions Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion.

Led by its powerful front-court duo of junior co-captain Keith Wright and sophomore Kyle Casey, the Crimson (15-3, 4-0 Ivy) picked up a 78-57 victory against the Big Red (4-14, 0-4).

“They smacked us last year [on the road], and then we had a tough loss at home to them,” Casey said. “We all came in here with a little extra juice and a little extra fire, and I think we executed pretty well.”

After a disappointing first half in which Casey was held to just two points and one rebound, the forward exploded in the second half with 14 points and eight rebounds, helping Harvard extend its 10-point halftime lead up to 24.

But Casey wasn’t the only Crimson forward to put up big numbers.

Wright—Casey’s front-court mate in the starting lineup—picked up his seventh double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs.

While Wright and Casey provided strong production in the post, also crucial to the Crimson’s success was its guard play.

Harvard combined for 17 assists while committing just four turnovers, a season-low.

Junior guard Oliver McNally and sophomore guard Brandy Curry led the way, handing out seven assists apiece.

Curry had the hot hand in the game’s opening minutes, connecting on two treys in the first five minutes of play to help Harvard establish an early 13-3 lead.

Cornell responded with a 7-0 run highlighted by a two-handed slam from Adam Wire to cut its deficit to three.

But sophomore forward Jeff Georgatos ended the Big Red run, nailing his first career three-pointer off a pass from Curry to put the Crimson up by six.

The Crimson continued to rely on the long ball throughout the first half, connecting on 8-of-16 deep attempts in the opening frame.

With six minutes to play in the first and Harvard up 30-22, Cornell cut another chunk out of Harvard’s lead, thanks to a run led by Big Red sophomore Errick Peck. Peck sparked the run by corralling a missed three-point attempt from teammate Drew Ferry and powering to the basket for the easy bucket.

On the other end, Crimson freshman Laurent Rivard missed an open look from beyond the arc, and the visitors pulled down the rebound.

Peck struck again, this time sinking a three off the dribble to pull the Big Red back within three and forcing Harvard coach Tommy Amaker to burn a timeout.

But that’s as close as Cornell would get.

Coming out of the timeout, the Crimson gave the ball to Wright, who put the ball on the floor and finished with a spinning layup.

Sophomore Christian Webster nailed a triple on Harvard’s next possession to put the Crimson back up by eight.

Harvard closed out the half on a strong note, as Rivard knocked down a 25-footer with just seconds on the clock to give the Crimson a 10-point lead heading into the break.

“It was very big,” said Amaker of Rivard’s deep ball. “That gave us the double-digit margin that we were trying to get throughout the first half.”

But Harvard would have to withstand one more Cornell run before it could cruise to the victory.

Coming out of the break, the Big Red jumped out on a 7-2 run to get within five. Peck played a crucial role in Cornell’s success once again, finishing an acrobatic alley-oop and an and-one layup for five of his team-high 15 points.

“Peck is a tough matchup,” Amaker said. “He’s strong, [and] he’s physical. He can play inside and out.”

“He’s really fluid and he’s really athletic,” added Casey, who was charged with the primary task of defending Peck. “I definitely respect him as a player.”

But within less than two minutes, Harvard built its lead back into double digits, relying on a pair of layups from Wright and a pretty spin move from Casey in the post.

The Crimson also put the clamps down defensively, forcing the Big Red to miss its next three shot attempts.

“I think, defensively, we just locked up a lot better,” Casey said. “Communication kind of picked up, and defensive intensity picked up. And our defense always leads to our offense, so I think that’s kind of how we kind of turned it around.”

A three-pointer from Rivard with 16:34 to play set the lead at 14, and the Crimson’s lead never dipped below 12 the rest of the way, reaching 24 with under four minutes to play.

With Saturday’s victory over Cornell and Friday’s win against Columbia, Harvard improves to 4-0 in the Ivy League and extended its home winning streak to 13 games—a program record.

“I was very pleased with the effort we displayed both nights defensively,” Amaker said. “Obviously, a gratifying weekend for us.”

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.