Men's Basketball Opens Season at Home Against MIT

The last time Lavietes Pavilion was filled, junior forward Agunwa Okolie was flying through the air with a 360-windmill dunk, bringing even the Boston Celtic’s Jared Sullinger and his fellow judges to their feet. While Friday night’s contest for the Harvard men’s basketball team and Massachusetts Institute of Technology won’t feature any judges or scorecards like Crimson Madness did, that doesn’t mean there won’t be any high flying dunks from Harvard coach Tommy Amaker’s explosive front court in its opener.

The Crimson is ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press preseason poll and was the unanimous choice to win the Ivy League for a fourth straight year. MIT, meanwhile, is a Division-III program that was bounced out of the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament after a 23-point loss to Plattsburgh State. While their gymnasiums are only two miles apart, the strength of their basketball programs could not be farther.

Harvard returns superstars in junior co-captain Siyani Chambers, the 2012-2013 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and senior wing Wesley Saunders, last season’s Ivy League Player of the Year, who make up one of the best backcourts in the country.

“We are now the hunted—before, we were the hunters,” said Saunders. “We are not to worried about it. We are going to go in and just play our game like we have up to this point and everything will work itself out.”

In addition, Harvard’s frontcourt is just as imposing, with three seniors, captain Steve Moundou-Missi, forward Jonah Travis, and center Kenyatta Smith, all back. Smith, who missed most of last season due to an injury, will provide the inside shot-blocking ability that the Crimson missed late last season.

“It’s great to know that we are one of the most dominant teams in the area,” Saunders said. “We enjoy beating hometown rivals and going out there and just playing well.”

Nonetheless, the Engineers do return its top two scorers in senior forwards Matt Redfield (13.0 points per game) and Andrew Acker (11.8), both of who have Division-I size and strength. While MIT may have a chance to match up with Harvard inside, containing Chambers and Saunders on the perimeter will be the true test if the Engineers wish to pull off an early upset.

Last year, Harvard coasted to a 79-37 win over MIT, clearing the bench, which resulted in every active player on roster scoring. Chambers and Saunders played less than a half and recorded 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals between the pair.

But with the graduation of captains Laurent Rivard ’14 and Brandyn Curry ’14, a lack of three-point shooting may cause some early problems for the Crimson. As a result, Friday’s contest will mark more than just the season opener for the Crimson, as Harvard will get a chance to redefine itself with a loaded frontcourt and two guards that have become Ivy League household names.

“We are anxious to see who we are going to be right now, playing against other folks and our opponents,” Amaker said. “MIT is a terrific program. We have won games against them, but they do have a culture of winning.”

Besides the pure talent differential between the two squads, Harvard boasts another definitive advantage: playing at home.

Since Harvard’s seniors first took the floor in 2010, the Crimson is 49-3 (.942) at Lavietes, ranking behind only Belmont (51-2, .962) and Duke (63-3, .955) for the third-highest home winning percentage in the nation.

The Crimson has won nine straight home openers dating back to 2005. Though opening against a Division-III program should be an easier matchup for Amaker’s squad, Harvard still won’t be taking any chances.

“[MIT] is a program and a team that expects to do well,” Amaker said. “They expect to do well and compete and to win at their level and we are very hopeful that we can get out to a good start as the season kicks off and gets underway.”

—Staff writer Andrew Farber can reached at andrewfarber@college.harvard.edu.