NOTEBOOK: Men's Basketball Handles Bison With Ease

There was little suspense in the Harvard men’s basketball team’s 76-44 victory over the Howard Bison (2-2). Harvard (3-0) led 11-2 after less than four minutes of play, and the Bison, who never led, would never get closer than four the rest of the way. Even with senior Brandyn Curry and junior Kenyatta Smith watching from the bench, the Crimson dispatched the Bison with stingy defense. Howard shot 31 percent from the field on the day and did not make a single shot from behind the arc.

“Defense has always been a calling card for our program from day one,” coach Tommy Amaker said. “We’ve made that an emphasis, a pillar for us to grow and build and establish an identity. I was very pleased to see that all our kids were able to contribute in a lot of different ways.”

The Crimson received contributions from all over the lineup in the victory. Senior Kyle Casey had 14 points in just 13 minutes of play, and junior Wesley Saunders filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Eight Crimson players grabbed at least one offensive rebound, and 10 made their way to the free throw line, where Harvard took 38 shots on the night.

“I was very pleased that we were able to play everybody,” Amaker said. “I thought our kids had great energy. It was a great team effort; defensively, the key for us was how hard we played, and for the most part, we had pretty good discipline on the defensive end.”

BREAKING THE PRESS

From the opening tip, Howard played with a full court ‘Havoc’ defense. Known as an underdog tactic, the full-court press was the first Harvard had seen all season. Yet the Crimson faced no problem adjusting. Harvard finished with 12 turnovers on the night, but the bulk were after having its offense set.

A more telling statistic was the fast break discrepancy. Howard had just two solitary fast break points, eight less than Harvard—who often had Saunders leak out down the floor and get behind the press, leading to a pair of early first-half layups.

When asked how his team was able to break the press, Amaker’s answer was simple: “Siyani.”

The sophomore point guard, who assumed the bulk of the ball-handling duties with Curry on the bench, had just three turnovers on the night. Saunders said that having Chambers on the court allowed the team to relax and focus on what it had practiced.

“We knew they were going to pressure us, so we worked on [breaking the press] in practice,” Saunders said. “[The key] is being patient and not getting nervous when they are attacking.”

A STEP UP ON D

On the defensive side of the ball, the Crimson continued an early-season trend of aggressive shot contesting inside. Harvard finished with eight blocks and 19 fouls, many of which came when going after shots near the rim. Even without Curry and Smith, two of the team’s best shot blockers, the team had six players record at least one block.

Some of the Crimson’s best defensive work came on the perimeter, however. Howard freshman guard James Daniel came into the game averaging 23 points on 54 percent shooting from beyond the arc but missed 10 of 14 shots against the Crimson, including all four of his threes. The 6’6” Saunders drew the bulk of the defensive work against the 5’11” Daniel, cutting off his driving lanes with his long wingspan.

“I didn’t know [I’d cover him] until right before the game,” Saunders said, noting Daniel was initially going to draw Curry. “I just knew I had to step up on defense.”

Early in the year, the team has not let an opponent shoot better than 42 percent from the floor. The Crimson’s calling card last year was its offense, but it has not managed to shoot better than its 47.5 percent average from 2012-2013 in any of its games. Yet Harvard stays in contests by forcing 19.3 turnovers a game on the defensive end and limiting opponents to 18 percent shooting from downtown.

Saunders said that the team has focused on defense in the early going, expecting the offense to come along as Harvard gets healthier and chemistry improves.

“I don’t know if [the defense] is ahead [of the offense], but it definitely is our main focus,” Saunders said. “The offense will come. We have a lot of weapons on our team this year.”

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at david.freed@thecrimson.com.