Notebook: Harvard Bolsters Its Ivy League Credentials with Mid-Atlantic Sweep

Entering the weekend, Harvard was 4-2 in Ivy League play and in need of at least one win to be guaranteed to remain in the top four for the next week. The Crimson did one better, sweeping Princeton and Penn and improving to 6-2, putting it on the right side of the Ivy League tournament bubble by three full games and leaving it within one game of conference-leading Yale heading into next weekend’s matchup in New Haven.

Here are some takeaways from an impressive road sweep, which was spurred by the scorching-hot Bryce Aiken, who scored 58 points on the weekend:

Lewis, Harvard Show Resilience

In both Princeton and Philadelphia, it seemed at times as if the game was getting away from the Crimson. Harvard trailed by six deep into the second half of each game and seemed to have everything going against it.

Christian Juzang airballed two second half jumpers against Princeton — although he looked to have drawn contact on one of them — and spent the rest of the game showered with shouts of “airball” from the Tiger faithful. Chris Lewis fouled out against Princeton and missed seven of his first eight shots against Penn. The referees made several questionable calls against the Crimson in the Palestra, and Harvard did not take its first free throw for more than 33 minutes against the Quakers and had just three free throw attempts in regulation.

And despite all of that, the Crimson swept what is likely the Ivy League’s toughest road trip. Lewis’s gutsy performance against Penn served as a good microcosm of Harvard’s weekend performance. Given the tough task of guarding Quaker big man AJ Brodeur, he struggled mightily early on both offensively and defensively. The Alpharetta, Ga., native was scoreless in the first half with two turnovers, and he picked up his second foul just 10 seconds into the second half.

But Lewis came up big when the Crimson needed him most. Down seven — Harvard’s biggest deficit of the game — with six minutes left, he scored out of the post and then got a steal and layup to bring the Crimson within three. He was just as important on the defensive end, getting that crucial steal and blocking three shots in the second half and overtime. While Brodeur had the edge in regulation, it was the resilient Lewis who outscored the Quaker star 4-0 in overtime and blocked his opponent’s only shot in the extra period.

Noah Kirkwood Breaks Out

While Bryce Aiken will get most of the plaudits (and rightfully so), it is also important not to underestimate the impact that freshman Noah Kirkwood had on both nights. In Princeton, he fought through the frustration of not getting some calls he thought he deserved from the officials to score 16 points on 10 shots. He then came back the next night with a well-earned 14 points in a career high 32 minutes.

First year Noah Kirkwood provided a double-digit scoring lift off the bench in both games this weekend. By Timothy R. O'Meara

It was Kirkwood’s first ever full Ivy League road weekend, but it certainly did not look like it. The Ontario native was a team-best +17 on the court against Penn, and the 62% free throw shooter drained two clutch free throws with 49 seconds left in overtime to give Harvard a seven point edge.

The freshman still has to work on cutting down his turnovers — he turns the ball over a team-high three times per contest — but his shooting ability and knack for creating looks for himself off the dribble should allow him to continue to see ample playing time as coach Tommy Amaker looks for secondary scoring around Aiken.

Ball Movement Still an Issue

Despite winning both games this weekend, Harvard continued to have a hard time creating easy looks from crisp passing. A night after registering just seven assists in Princeton, the Crimson’s assist total shrunk further still to a paltry four in the Palestra.

As Penn coach Steve Donahue said after the game, it is rare that a team wins a game with a 4:19 assist:turnover ratio, and while Harvard managed to do just that, the lack of assists must still be a concern for Amaker going forward.

Junior Henry Welsh overpowers Princeton guard Jaelin Llewellyn in a drive to the basket. By Timothy R. O'Meara

The Crimson’s 12.3 assists per game ranks 265th in the nation, which would be concerning enough, but Harvard’s 9.1 assists per league game would be lowest in the country if prorated over the entire season. Some of this is the natural result of being led by a score-first guard like Aiken, but the Crimson has been unable recently to capitalize on size advantages inside and to get Lewis, its second leading scorer on the season, going.

When Aiken inevitably cools off, Harvard is going to have to find other ways to get buckets, and that should start with better ball movement.

Shortening the Rotation

Earlier in the season, it was not unusual to see Amaker rotate the lineup liberally throughout the game, with as many as 12 players seeing significant playing time. As one might have expected, that has no longer been the case in recent Ivy League play.

The same nine players played in both games this weekend, and in the Princeton game Amaker rolled almost entirely with the same seven players, as eight and ninth men Danilo Djuricic and Rio Haskett played just five and four minutes apiece.

It is clear that the five starters, Henry Welsh, and Noah Kirkwood will continue to get meaningful playing time going forward, but it will be interesting to see what Amaker does with Djuricic and Haskett.

Coach Amaker has shortened the rotation as Ivy play has picked up. By Timothy R. O'Meara

Djuricic provides size, energy, and defensive mobility (he drew a big charge in the Penn game) as a stretch four contributor, but has remained relatively quiet from three-point land of late, one of his main fortes.

Haskett has also struggled this season from the floor, shooting just 28% on the season and scoring just seven points in Ivy League play.

The Richmond native can still get hot in a hurry, as he showed against Northeastern early in the season — and he also provides a lot to the team with his defense and energy — but he is playing less as a sophomore than he did as a freshman and must step up offensively if he wants to remain a major part of Amaker’s calculus going forward.

— Staff writer Lev Cohen can be reached at lev.cohen@thecrimson.com.