Men's Basketball Rebounds From Loss, Tops Brown, 69-42

Coming off its first Ivy League loss of the season, the Harvard men’s basketball team needed exactly this type of performance.

One week after falling at Princeton, the Crimson came out firing on all cylinders on Friday night at Lavietes Pavilion, dominating Brown, 69-42.

Defense was once again the key, as Harvard (22-3, 8-1 Ivy) held the Bears (7-19, 1-8) to its lowest offensive output of the season on 32.7-percent shooting. Brown’s Sean McGonagill, who entered the game sixth in the conference in scoring, averaging 14 points per game, was held to 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Matt Sullivan (11 points) was the only other Bear to finish in double figures.

Harvard received scoring from nine different players, as the Crimson shot 53.2 percent from the field, marking the first time this season Harvard shot over 50 percent in conference play.

“We talk a lot about regrouping and responding—I thought we did that incredibly well tonight,” said Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, whose squad maintained its one-game lead in the Ancient Eight standings with the win.

“I thought we bounced back pretty well from last Saturday,” echoed co-captain Keith Wright, who recorded his fifth double-double in the first half and finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. “We made an effort to come out and prove a point, and I think we did that.”

The Crimson had its way in the paint all evening, as forwards Wright, Kyle Casey, and Steve Moundou-Missi combined for 32 points and 21 rebounds. Harvard recorded 10 blocks on the night, matching a season high, and outrebounded the Bears, playing without starting forward Andrew McCarthy, by a 40-23 margin.

Moundou-Missi notched the third double-digit scoring performance of his career, posting a game-high 14 points on four-of-five shooting in 18 minutes off the bench. The rookie added six rebounds and four blocks—a career high.

“I thought his minutes were outstanding,” Amaker said of the forward. “He was active.”

Moundou-Missi’s classmates, point guard Corbin Miller and swingman Wes Saunders, also played crucial minutes off the bench, scoring nine points apiece.

While the rest of the Crimson shot two of 12 from beyond the arc, Miller connected on three of four three-point attempts, raising his season average to 49 percent.

Harvard’s bench, which outscored Brown’s, 42-9, also got five points apiece from junior Christian Webster and freshman Jonah Travis.

“We’ve gone 9, 10 guys deep,” explained Amaker, who played 10 players for at least 14 minutes on Friday. “Sometimes our bodies can wear down our opponents. That’s what we’re hoping to have happen in our league.”

Brown kept pace for the first six minutes of play, taking a 12-11 lead with 13:57 to play off a Matt Sullivan layup.

But it was all Harvard from there, as the Crimson responded with a 24-2 run over the next 12:16 to play, holding the Bears to 1-of-13 shooting from the field over the stretch.

“I thought we had a great attention to detail,” Amaker said. “I thought we limited their three-point opportunities, which was key for us. I thought we chased them off the three if we could.”

Eight different Crimson players found the bottom of the net during the run with Casey and Moundou-Missi leading the way, posting five apiece.

Moundou-Missi sparked the run, hitting a free throw, and then finding Miller for an open three to put the Crimson up, 15-12. Webster continued the run, driving to the hoop before flipping a pass to Travis under the basket for an open dunk.

Back-to-back and-one layups from Casey and Saunders gave the Crimson its first double-digit lead of the game, 25-14, with 9:06 to play.

Harvard continued to pour it on, as Wright finished a layup off an entry pass from junior point guard Brandyn Curry (nine assists), and Webster collected a Moundou-Missi block near midcourt and took it the length of the court for an easy score.

Moundou-Missi put the Crimson up by 21, sticking a short jumper and a pair of free throws to give Harvard the 35-14 edge.

Brown’s Jean Harris stopped the bleeding by sticking a mid-range jumper, but Harvard went into the break leading by 21, 37-16, and its lead never dipped below 16 the rest of the way.

“It was a nice performance by our ball club,” said Amaker, whose squad won its 26th straight game at Lavietes Pavilion, good for the second longest current home winning streak in the nation. “We came ready to play.”

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