Frontcourt Propels Harvard to Win

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Predicted to challenge for a spot among the top half of the Ancient Eight after being picked fifth in the preseason media poll and leading the league in scoring offense last year, Brown men’s basketball has so far played a season to forget.

Forward Rafael Maia, a highly touted freshman from Brazil, was ruled ineligible to play in November. A month later, all-Ivy forward Tucker Halpern and freshman guard Joe Sharkey were also sidelined for the entire season due to mononucleosis and a preseason injury, respectively.

Since then, Bears coach Jesse Agel has been at the helm of a squad that lost earlier this month to a Division-III school and boasts a frontcourt rotation consisting of Andrew McCarthy, Dockery Walker, and Tyler Ponticelli, who made a total of 27 starts last season.

So heading into Saturday evening’s game at Brown, the No. 23 Crimson’s big men must have been hungry to take on an undersized and relatively inexperienced frontcourt after battling Yale’s sizeable forwards the night before.

Feast offensively they did, as the Crimson’s trio of co-captain Keith Wright, junior Kyle Casey, and rookie Steve Moundou-Missi totaled 35 points and 29 rebounds. Freshman Jonah Travis added six points in seven minutes off the bench.

In total, Harvard had a 34-20 advantage in points in the paint and outrebounded its hosts, 39-25.

Casey’s 20 points and eight boards represented his best statistical performance since he picked up 26 and 10 in a 74-69 win over Saint Joseph’s on New Year’s Eve.

But the Bears were not pushed completely out of the interior, as McCarthy had seven points on three-of-six shooting in the first half.

“[Our big men] played with basically no rest, and they just battled and battled,” Agel said. “I was really impressed.”

Walker, who went scoreless in the first half, gathered confidence in the early portion of the second period. After a short baseline bucket with 12:41 left, he followed up with a short hook to cut the Harvard advantage to 45-37. A breakaway dunk with five minutes to play meant that Walker finished with 10 points on five-of-five shooting in 34 minutes of play.

“I thought he played very well,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “Certainly he had a lot of energy around the basket and did a nice job of finishing.”

CATCH AND SHOOT

Its current roster situation dictates that the Bears take to the perimeter; the portion of their scoring that comes from three-pointers is among the largest in the nation. Saturday’s contest proved to be no exception, as the hosts went eight of 22 beyond the arc, while the Crimson was just two of eight.

“We needed to do a decent job of guarding the three-point line, and I thought we did that.” Amaker said.

Guards Matt Sullivan, Stephen Albrecht, and Sean McGonagill each took at least 10 field goal attempts on the night and totaled 36 points.

A highly-regarded transfer from Toledo, Albrecht hit his first three shots—all three-pointers from far beyond the arc, leaving his defender, Harvard co-captain Oliver McNally, incredulous—but went scoreless in the second half. That was when McGonagill, the reigning unanimous Ivy Rookie of the Year, took over, collecting all 11 of his points.

While Brown reached the free throw line 14 times after halftime, it was unable to take advantage, going 11 of 20 on the night. Walker and McCarthy missed four free throw attempts each, as the Crimson was again helped by its opposition’s struggles at the line. Harvard currently sits at No. 2 in the nation in opponent free-throw percentage.

PUSH TO START

Just as the Bears had a nearly non-existent bench effort Saturday—all five Brown starters reached double-figures, while no other player scored—Harvard began to rely more on its starters against the Bears after a series of games in which its reserves were needed to provide an offensive spark. The Crimson received 13 points on the night from its bench, the fewest since a 70-61 win over Monmouth on Jan. 10.

Along with Casey’s offensive explosion, junior point guard Brandyn Curry had 15 points, tying a season-high. Averaging just four points a game over his past five games, Curry was able to take his defender off the dribble and draw contact, getting to the line nine times.

—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu.