NOTEBOOK: Saunders, Defense Pace Harvard in Win Over Northeastern

“We can't expect him to be Superman every night and to put us on his back with an offensive explosion,” said Harvard coach Tommy Amaker of senior wing Wesley Saunders. “It will find its way to him.”

Three weeks ago, with the game on the line, Saunders dribbled the ball at the top of the key in the Boston TD Garden. Down just two, Saunders was unable to save the day, as Harvard’s top-25 ranking vanished in a loss to Holy Cross.

While Saunders dropped 24 points that night, it was those last two that his team needed most. Nonetheless, the senior, who was named to the Naismith Award Top 50 Watch List earlier on Wednesday, has done just about everything for the Crimson since then.

The reigning Ivy League Player of the Year was averaging 21.8 points going into Wednesday’s contest, good for seventh in the nation. Against UMass, Saunders scored the final six points for Harvard, including two clutch free throws to win the game, 75-73.

Fast forward to Wednesday night. Saunders is 0-for-3 in the first half and has committed a charging foul. Meanwhile, Northeastern (5-2) has crawled back into the game and made it a five-point contest, silencing the home crowd.

“I wasn’t too worried…. I could have played a lot better in the first half,” said Saunders. “But I know though that there’s two halves and wanted to go back into halftime reenergized, and we came back out as a team.”

Perhaps the statistic most indicative of Saunders’ success is his field goal percentage. Many of the nations top scorers shoot in the low 40 percent range and take 14 to 18 shots per a game. Saunders is currently shooting 55 percent from the field and takes fewer than 13 shots per a game.

"One thing about Wesley is that he is an even-keeled person,” said Amaker. “The highs and the lows aren't drastic with him, which is a tremendous quality for someone to have of his ability and he takes it in stride.”

What makes Saunders so invaluable to Harvard is his ability to understand his role and his incredible feel for the game.

When his squad is rolling and scoring with ease, he is perfectly comfortable with playing hard-nosed defense and rebounding the basketball (see his five steals, the most by any Harvard player since Jeremy Lin in 2010). When it needs him to score, he has no problem stepping up and doing that either, as he dropped 12 points in the second half.

However, don’t mistake Saunders’ patience and discipline for a lack of talent. With 7:04 remaining and up just nine, Saunders caught the ball in front of the Harvard student section in the corner. With just one dribble, #23 picked up the rock, cuffed it in his right hand and floated up and under the hoop for the reverse layup.

It’s those type of plays that have earned Saunders a top-50 player ranking on ESPN. His talent and finesse are undeniable, and when Saunders flies through the lane and goes into attack mode like he did against the Huskies, he really is Harvard’s Superman.

IN DEFENSE OF STATISTICS

33.3 percent from the field, 17-for-51 shooting, and 14 turnovers. Numbers don’t lie.

On Wednesday night, Harvard’s defense shut down Northeastern. For the first four minutes of the game, Northeastern couldn’t even score, and it looked like it might not for the entire night.

With seniors Kenyatta Smith and captain Steve Moundou-Missi patrolling the lane, no shot went uncontested. Smith finished the night with four blocks.

“It’s definitely a big confidence booster when those guys are back there cleaning up shots,” said Saunders. “You can pressure the ball knowing that if you get beat, they have your back.”

While statistics might not show it, junior co-captain Siyani Chambers and sophomore Corbin Miller both played excellent help defense, sliding into the lane to either poke at the ball or force an extra pass. Harvard combined for eight steals, guarding the perimeter with excellent mobility and only allowing for two made three-pointers.

“[Coach Amaker] always preaches defense,” said Saunders. “That is always our calling card…. It was a key tonight to stop the shooters, and we did a good job of that.”

Harvard held Northeastern to just 46 points, its lowest total of the season, and sent it only its second loss.

"I thought we showed a tremendous commitment to defense,” said Amaker. “I thought we came with a resolve defensively especially against a team with [Scott] Eatherton on the inside.”

Though Northeastern’s senior Eatherton did manage to drop a game-high 16 points, only one other Husky would reach double digits on the night.

Though Harvard maintained a double-digit lead throughout the majority of the night, white jerseys were constantly on the floor and scrambling for loose balls. On two separate occasions, Chambers dove to the ground for steals that he didn’t come up with, setting the tone of the game with his constant aggressiveness.

Similarly, while Harvard allowed 15 offensive rebounds, that number can be quite deceptive. Many of Northeastern’s boards came off of errant or altered shots that were deep in the shot clock, as the Huskies all crashed the boards.

In addition, as Northeastern sent five guys to the glass, Harvard’s offensive rebounds resulted in long outlet passes and easy layups on the other end for eight fast break points.

LIGHTING UP LAVIETES

Maybe it was the pregame speech from Coach Amaker, maybe it was the result of a thrilling win just a couple days ago over UMass, or maybe it was the presence of the Harvard football team in the student section. Whatever it was, the Crimson came out Wednesday night against Northeastern a newfound energy.

With students packing Lavietes for the first game since Thanksgiving break, Coach Tommy Amaker’s squad put on a show in the opening ten minutes of the contest. After trailing to UMass (5-2) at the end of the first half just four days ago, Harvard wanted no part of that on Wednesday night.

Flawless execution, quick ball movement and smart shot selection paved the way to a 10-0 lead for the Crimson out the gate. Defensively, regardless of whom Amaker put on the floor, all five Harvard players were engaged and active.

“We talked about starting the game off and getting out to a good start, which we did,” said Amaker. “We have taken that to heart and that has been very important to us."

Harvard’s 16-4 run to open the night was highlighted by an emphatic dunk on a fast break from junior wingman Agunwa Okolie. Okolie brought heightened athleticism to the Crimson offense, as his explosiveness was a perfect complement to the already dynamic backcourt of Chambers and Saunders.

Stout defense and offensive efficiency resulted in 22 points in just 11 minutes for Harvard. Both Chambers and sophomore sharpshooter Corbin Miller found themselves wide-open for threes, as junior Evan Cummins and senior Kenyatta Smith prevented the Huskies’ defense from extending beyond the paint.

Though Harvard eventually went six minutes without a field goal in the half, it looked much more like the team that many had expected to be in Cambridge this winter, a preseason top-25.

After watching Northeastern drain a three and cut the lead to two to start the second half, the burst of energy seemed to return Harvard.

In the second half, Chambers and Saunders both began to push the pace. In transition, the two are make up one the most dynamic backcourts in the country, as Chamber’s seems to always be able to find his leading scorer.

“We got up in transition that half and Siyani was pushing it,” said Saunders. “We were getting ahead before they could set up the defense, so we did a much better job of attacking them.”

Harvard’s defense was the catalyst to many of those fast breaks, as they held Northeastern to just 30.8 percent from the field in the second half. While freshman Andre Chatfield and senior Jonah Travis have traditionally come off the bench and brought the energy for Harvard this year, Chambers and Saunders had no problem providing the spark in the second half.

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